King Ranma's Birthday
by Shritistrang
Summary: Ranma is the king, and everyone adores him. But what will save him from his boredom? Are the four wishes he makes for his birthday enough to pull him out of his misery?
1. The Four Wishes

It was a beautiful morning in the kingdom of Nerima. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the river flowing through the capital Saotokyo was splashing gently against its bank.

In the middle of Saotokyo, a small but steep mountain rose, covered with lush grass and bushes. And on the top of the mountain, the impressive domicile of King Ranma was situated: Saotome Castle!

It was still silent within the royal walls. King Ranma was still asleep. In the big hallway in front of his bedroom, two female servants were walking on tiptoes so they wouldn't wake his majesty.

Suddenly, the snoring coming through the door stopped. Yuka and Sayuri looked at each other.

"You suppose he's awake?" Yuka whispered to her friend. Sayuri shrugged.

Just then, a loud ringing coming out of the bedroom made them both jump. He was awake, all right - and he was ringing the royal bell. Which could only mean...

"Hey!" the king's loud voice shouted. "I'm huuuuungry here! Can anyone get me some breakfast?"

That was their cue. In a hurry, the two girls ran down the hallway, down the spiral stairs and into the castle's basement, where the kitchen was situated.

Both of them came bursting through the small door at the same time. "King Ranma's awake," they gasped simultaneously.

Ukyo Kuonji, the castle's chef, turned around and smiled. "So, is he now? Well, I could hear his voice even down here, so he must be up. So I suppose he wants his breakfast now, huh?"

She gathered two enormous trays with food and gave them to the two female servants. "Here you are, sugars... But don't run that fast, you hear me? If his breakfast falls down, the king won't be too happy."

Sayuri and Yuka nodded nervously and hurried back to the royal bedroom - a little bit slower than before.

They stood in front of the door, took on dignified poses and knocked.

"Come in," a sleepy voice called.

Sayuri opened the door, and they entered the big bedroom.

The bed itself was enormous. It was big enough for at least five persons, and the king's head seemed to vanish in the giant pillow.

"Good morning, your majesty!" the girls chorused.

"Morning," Ranma grumbled. The girls exchanged a quick look. They could see: The king once again was in one of his 'bored phases'. Maybe some sunlight would cheer him up...

After putting her tray down, Yuka went over to the big window and opened the curtains. Golden sunlight shone into the room and made the smooth floor gleam.

"So the sun is shining again?" The king sighed. "How boooring..."

Sayuri and Yuka didn't know what to say and decided to leave. "Enjoy your breakfast, your majesty!"

"Tell the coiffeur I wanna see her after the breakfast, okay?" he called after them. The two of them bowed and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Ranma sighed and started to eat. Being a king could be boring sometimes... He remembered his coronation ceremony: Back then, the idea of becoming the country's ruler had its appeal, and he had dreamed about creating the perfect Utopia.

Perfect Utopia... An Utopia of boredom, perhaps...

Sure, there hasn't been one single war since he became king. He managed to lower the taxes without the kingdom having to suffer from it. His loyal subjects downright adored him... To make a long story short: Everything was perfect!

Too perfect.

Ranma has been a martial artist before he became king, and only shortly before the coronation he learned that his father had been this country's ruler. Luckily, Ranma inherited the natural abilities of a leader by his parent, who he never got to know.

His previous life has always been full of action and interesting events. But now, after two years of being king... He had nothing much to do. And even if he would hold a martial artist tournament: He really didn't believe that anyone within his kingdom was ready to fight their own king. Most of the inhabitants were even pacifists.

So it was no wonder that he was bored.

Suddenly, someone else knocked on the door. "Come in," Ranma said.

It was Kasumi Tendo, his royal coiffeur. He knew Kasumi and her family from the time when he still didn't know of his royal heritage. And when he became king, he offered them a place at his court. Kasumi and Nabiki accepted instantly, but Akane didn't... Actually, he hadn't seen Akane for a year now. He often wondered what she was doing...

Kasumi smiled at him. "Good morning, Ranma-kun!" As one of his old friends, she had the privilege of calling Ranma by his name. Yuka and Sayuri could have easily done the same - heck, Ranma would've preferred if everyone of his subjects would call him just Ranma - but most of them were too nervous around him and preferred to follow etiquette.

"Morning, Kasumi!" Kasumi always managed to put a slight smile on his bored face. "The usual: Washing, brushing and the usual pigtail, okay?"

"Right away, Ranma-kun!"

Well, of course Ranma was a man who was able to do his own hair, but since every king had a royal coiffeur, Ranma had to have one as well.

And to be honest, Kasumi loved the job.

While she was busy washing his hair, Ranma sighed. "Kasumi, you know it's my birthday soon, right?"

"That's right," Kasumi smiled while doing her job. "In three days! Oh, it will be a wonderful festival..."

"Right..." Ranma mumbled. "In three days... Kasumi, I thought about it and I think I know what I'm wishing for my birthday."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yes. Last year, I got all these boring things that people thought a king should have... valuable paintings and statues, gold, jewels and much more treasures, and some people even offered me to build the perfect training dojo for me." He chuckled. "But, to be honest, nothing out of those things was something that I really wanted to have...

But I thought of four things I always wanted to have... The first thing is a big cake... I always got some kind of cake for my birthday, but I would really like something special... A cake that really doesn't look like a cake, you know? To make it more interesting. It could look like some kind of animal, for instance...

And then, there's something else... When I was a child, I was always fascinated by those magicians who were doing their tricks like pulling rabbits out of a hat or making things vanish... I'd like to see one of those on my birthday.

I would also wish for a different kind of weather on that day... For the past few weeks, we had always sunny days, with only a few light rainfalls. What I would really wish for would be a big storm, with dark clouds, lightning and thunder... Nothing dangerous, and only for a short time... You know, just to make it different and exciting for once.

And my final wish is something simple... Something that I always wanted to have when I was a kid... Even before I became a martial artist... I wish to have a pony... A small pony to ride on... Oh well..."

He sighed deeply while Kasumi was tying his hair in a pigtail. "But I think I will get the same boring old cake with some candles on it. Like always, we will have a nice, sunny day. I won't get a pony because there aren't exactly many horses in my kingdom… And of course there won't be any trace of a magician on my party. Well, I suppose even kings can dream, huh?"

Kasumi didn't answer. She was thinking.

And after doing her job, she left Ranma's bedroom and went directly to the kitchen. "Ukyo," she shouted excitedly. "I finally know what Ranma is wishing for his birthday!"

"Really?" Ukyo asked. "So, tell me: What does he wish for?"

Kasumi shook her head. "Not now and not here! I'm planning on telling everything this evening... Ukyo, please call the bakery of Saotokyo and the embassy of Juuban and arrange a meeting within the bakehouse, this evening, 20 o' clock!"

"Bakehouse, 20 o' clock," Ukyo nodded. "Sugar, you really made me curious now..."

"We'll meet at 19:30 in the inner ward, at the well. I'm going to tell Nabiki... she has to come too."

And while the chef was dialing the number of the royal bakery, Kasumi was hurrying down to the castle's inner ward. She went through a small archway and entered a small courtyard. If she would look up, she would be able to see the window of Ranma's bedroom above her head.

She headed for a small, wooden shack that was situated in one corner of the courtyard. That shack was the workshop of her younger sister Nabiki. Nabiki was the head engineer and technician of the castle, because of her exceptional technical abilities. Not many people knew that Nabiki was a real genius... She wasn't just a simple engineer but a brilliant inventor.

Kasumi knew it, of course. When they were still living within their old home, Nabiki was always bored because she couldn't find a job where she could further develop her abilities... But working within this big castle gave her many opportunities to demonstrate her inventive talent. She did not only fix the castle's water conduits and other things, but she also constructed a new security system to make sure no thief would try to steal the riches that lay within King Ranma's treasure room.

Kasumi knocked at the door. "Nabiki... are you there?"

"In a minute," her sister called back. Kasumi heard some rumbling, then something fell to the ground with a loud 'clang' and Nabiki cursed. Shortly after, the door got unlocked and Nabiki opened.

"Oh, it's just you, sis! Come in! I just worked on a present for Ranma's birthday. That's why I locked myself in. I hope he likes it... Here, take a look: A special high-speed mountain bike for martial artists and other sportive people. He can steer it through almost all kinds of terrains. The back wheel is especially broad, see? When I pull on this handle..." It clicked. "Then the hind wheel will split into two separate wheels. It also has retractable spikes, a detachable box - if he wants to take along some stuff - and..." She grinned. "Side impact protection!"

Kasumi took a look at the bike, a really good piece of work. She sighed and sat down in an old armchair. "Nabiki, Ranma just told me what he's wishing for, and a bike is not one of those things. I tell you, he's so bored with his life... I could tell he was distressed. I'm really worried about him..."

Nabiki's face fell. "No bike? Then why did I work so hard on it? Look, it really works fine..." She jumped onto the bike and cycled a few times around the cramped room. The pedals squeaked horribly. And then, after the third round, the bike lost a wheel and Nabiki fell to the ground.

"I just have a screw loose..." she murmured. "Just one damn screw, and I also have to oil the thing..."

"Nabiki, did you even listen to me?" her older sister sighed.

"I understood every single word," Nabiki said in an offended voice. "Ranma doesn't want my bike. Okay, then I'll just have to use it myself."

"Now, now, Nabiki... Don't be offended! I think your bike is the most brilliant, interesting and greatest thing I've ever seen."

Nabiki smirked. "So, you think so?"

"Of course!" Kasumi smiled. "I've never seen a better bike in my whole life!"

That calmed the girl genius a little bit and she sat down in a chair. "Well... about those wishes... what are they?"

"Well," Kasumi said. "His first wish is a special kind of cake... Something unusual. I decided that the royal bakers in Saotokyo should be able to create something fitting. Perhaps Ukyo wants to help them, if she likes... That's why I called a meeting for this evening at 20, within the bakehouse.

Second: Ranma wants a pony. That's why I invited the ambassador of the Juuban kingdom. They are known for their big ranches, it certainly will be easy for them to find some nice pony for our king. That's also no problem.

But three and four: The magician and the thunderstorm... He wants a real magician, you know? Someone who wants to entertain him on his birthday party. I don't know anyone who could be considered. And a thunderstorm? For the last few weeks, the weather has always been sunny. How are we supposed to influence the weather like this?"

"Well, it's easy," Nabiki smirked. "The magician just has to conjure up a thunderstorm, and everything's fine."

"Well, do you know a magician?"

"No, no, it was just an idea..."

Kasumi stood up. "You know what? I think we can leave out the magician. If Ranma gets three of those four things, he will be happy enough."

"And what about the storm?"

Kasumi looked down at her sister. "You will take care of that!"

Nabiki stared. "M-me?"

"That's right!" The royal coiffeur smirked. "Nabiki Tendo, I hereby order you to build a Storm Machine for King Ranma's birthday."

Nabiki jumped to her feet. "Now wait just a sec, sis... I can build burglar-proof door latches, high-speed bikes, even ejection seats for cars... but a Storm Machine? I don't even have the slightest idea how something like that is supposed to look like."

"I don't care how it looks like," Kasumi replied. "As long as it's able to create a real thunderstorm. I know you can do it, Nabiki... Don't forget, you're a genius. I'll see you at 19:30 at the well. See you then."

And she left Nabiki's little workshop.

For several minutes, Nabiki just stood there and thought about it. Then she sat down at her desk and began sharpening her pencil.

"Storm Machine..." she grumbled. "Storm Machine... Lightning, thunder, crack-a-doom..." And while she sharpened her pencil and thought and thought and sharpened her pencil, more and more time was passing. She was that much in thought that she didn't even notice when nothing of the pencil was left to sharpen anymore...


	2. The Treasure Room

After his breakfast, Ranma went into the dojo hall which has been constructed after he became king. After going through his daily exercise routine, he still didn't feel any better.

"If I only had a sparring partner..." he murmured.

For lunch, he went back into his room. After gulping down the food, he walked to his window and looked outside.

He sighed. "Damn, is there really nothing else to do in this stupid castle?" he murmured to himself. Because of his royal status, he couldn't even ask Ukyo for a small sparring match...

Then he got an idea. There was something he could still do.

"I know," he grinned. "I'll go down to the treasure room... and take a look at my 'real' treasures."

Since Ranma had been a small boy, he had gathered all kinds of stuff and put it in a small wooden box which he had always stored within his wardrobe. Since he became king, he decided to store it in an even more secure place: In the treasure room, where all of the royal gold and jewels were being kept. Over the years, many things were added to his collection, including the trophies of all the martial arts tournaments in which he had participated - and won.

It was really a long time ago since he had taken a look at his old collection, so he decided to go down into the treasure room.

He walked over to his bed and put his hand deep inside his pillow. When he pulled it out, he was grasping a large key ring with a total of thirteen keys hanging from it.

Humming to himself, he left his room, skipped down the stairway and entered the inner ward. He was just going to walk through the archway... when his gaze fell on the castle's main gate.

The draw bridge was wide open, even though he couldn't see anyone entering or leaving the castle.

He suppressed a groan. "That's what I get for employing those two as guards..." he grumbled.

He entered a small door next to the big gate and walked up the stairs to the small guardroom. Upon entering, he almost slipped on a gnawed-off bacon rind.

The room itself was a disaster. Everything was a mess, and two big, empty sake bottles were standing on the table, next to a Shogi board. The room reeked of booze. And on the floor, his two gate guards were lying, snoring loudly.

Ranma walked over to the nearest one and kicked him in the ribs. "Yo, Pops! Get up!"

But Genma Saotome, his adoptive father and current head of the Saotome Anything Goes Martial Arts School, just groaned and turned around in his sleep.

Ranma had enough. He grabbed a big bucket of water that was standing next to the door and poured its contents over his sleeping father's head.

Gurgling and spitting, the guard-turned-panda sat up and shook his head. After recognizing his adopted son / king, he pulled out a sign that read: 'Boy, have you no respect for your old father?'

"You're not my real father, remember?" Ranma grumbled darkly. "I wonder what he would think if he knew that I employed two slackers like you to guard his castle."

Genma's friend Soun, the father of Nabiki and Kasumi, was also getting up by now. "Don't be too harsh with us, Ranma," he said. "But guarding the gate all the time made us sooo tired... we just couldn't stay awake."

"Tired? Yeah, right! You drunk too much sake, did ya? Stupid question... the whole room is reeking of that stuff."

"Oh, I know, my boy!" Niagara falls were coming out of Soun's eyes. "But you know how it is: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak! We just couldn't resist the temptation..."

"Well, then we just have to make sure there is no temptation, right? You have any more booze around here? Show me!"

Reluctantly, his panda father shuffled over to a cupboard and pulled out two more sake bottles.

Ranma pointed to the window. "Throw 'em out!" he commanded.

'Have some mercy, my boy," Genma-Panda signed. 'Where are we supposed to get more exquisite sake like this?'

"Nowhere, that's the point behind it. Now, out with them!"

Genma grumbled and walked over to the window. After looking pleadingly over his shoulder one last time, he sighed and threw the bottles out of the window. With two small splashes, they fell into the water of the castle's moat.

"Okay! Now I want you two to clean the room and pull up the drawbridge, got it?"

Realizing they had no other choice, Genma and Soun reluctantly obeyed (but only after Genma poured some hot water over his head to turn back into a human).

When the room was clean and the drawbridge was closed, Ranma nodded. "Good work, boys! Now remember: If I ever find sake or something similar within your room, you're fired! Got it? Now, I'm going to a secret place. Make sure no one follows me and only let those people enter the castle that are supposed to be in here."

"Whatever you say, Ranma!" Genma sighed.

After throwing his father and his companion a final glare, Ranma left the room.

Soun walked over to the window and looked down. A few bubbles were rising to the surface of the water, right where the bottles have sunk to the bottom.

"Too bad about the sake..." he mumbled.

Genma put up the Shogi board. "Come, Tendo! A little game will cheer us up!"

"Excellent idea, Saotome!"

They sat down at the table and began setting up the pieces.

Genma reached down into the boot of his uniform and pulled out a small bottle. "But first, let's have a drink, Tendo!"

----

Ranma quickly went through the archway into the backyard, ran past Nabiki's workshop and entered a small, blue door. He went down some spiral stairs and came into a small corridor. After following it, he came to a dead end... or so it may seem.

Ranma knelt down and counted the bricks in the third row from the ground.

"One, two, three, four..." When he reached the seventh brick, he pushed it. Slowly, a secret door opened in the wall. Ranma followed the corridor that came after the secret door, until he reached the big labyrinth.

This complex of corridors and hallways was a giant maze that was situated underneath the castle. It was supposed to keep thieves and burglars from stealing the castle's treasures, and only Ranma himself and Nabiki knew the correct way through the maze. Everyone else would surely need days to find his way out of there.

Ranma entered a small cave with three exits. Never hesitating, he went into the middle corridor. By now, Ranma knew the correct way to reach the treasure room inside out, so he just walked and walked until he finally reached another set of spiral stairs.

He went upstairs... and was in front of another brick wall. He knelt down again, counted several bricks and pushed a hidden button. Another secret door opened, and bright daylight shone into the corridor.

Ranma entered a round yard, well-hidden within the castle. It was surrounded by high walls, and the only way out of here was through the labyrinth. In the middle of the yard stood a massive building without any windows. That was the castle's treasure room.

Ranma walked up to the massive metal door and searched for the right key. When he found the right one, he unlocked the door and... stood in front of another door.

The truth is, the treasure room had a total of thirteen doors... all of them in a row. Only one step after the previous one came the next door, and every door had its own security lock. Therefore, the walls of the treasure room were very, very thick.

When Ranma finally unlocked the 13th door, he opened it... and could see the treasures of Saotome Castle lying in front of him.

The sunlight that shone into the room from outside made the gold and jewels shine and sparkle. A big pile of golden coins was lying next to an even bigger pile of diamonds. Hundreds of pearl necklets were hanging from various hooks on the walls, and on a wooden shelf, exactly in front of Ranma, three splendid crowns were standing, decorated with a large number of gems. Those were the three spare crowns of the kingdom. The normal crown of the king was lying within a safe in his bedroom, a simple golden crown without any decorations. These spare crowns were for special occasions... but Ranma himself has never worn one of them.

In a corner of the room, next to the big pile of paper money, a small, unimpressive wooden box was standing. Ranma smiled, walked over to it and opened the lid. This was it: His own special, secret collection. This meant so much more to him than any of these other treasures.

After rummaging through the chest, he pulled out a black belt. He smiled. His father - his adoptive father, that is - was so proud when he won it in the first martial arts contest in his life. It was old and slightly worn... But Ranma simply loved looking at his old trophies and remembering how he got them.

He sighed. Those were the good old days...

When he was finished, he carefully put everything back into the box and closed the lid. Yes, he had needed that... A small remembrance of the past...

When he turned around to leave, his gaze fell down to the paper money. He frowned and picked up a small bunch. Somehow, they looked like they were damaged.

"Strange..." he murmured. "Those look like... teeth marks."

"Meow?"

Ranma froze. That... that horrible sound... could it be...?

Slowly, he turned around.

Coming out of its hiding place behind the pile of coins, the four-legged monstrosity approached him with gleaming eyes. A green, furry monster with sharp claws and teeth and...

"C-c-c... c-c-c..." Ranma stuttered.

The green monster tilted its head. "Meow?"

"C-c-c... CAAAAAAAT! CAAAAAAT!" Screaming, Ranma ran out of the treasure room, through the 13 doors, back into the labyrinth.

The small green cat blinked. Then she sighed.

"Stupid Airen..." she muttered. "Is he still afraid of cats?

Well, serves him right for locking poor Shampoo in this room... even if it was accident..."

She sighed again and looked out of the 13 doors. After all those weeks, after accidentally being locked within the treasure room by Ranma, she was finally free again.

She looked back at the pile of paper money and smiled.

"Freedom can wait... Shampoo will have a little snack first."

She slinked over to the bundle of green banknotes Ranma had dropped in his panic... and took a big bite.

----

When Ranma became king, Ukyo was lucky enough to get a job inside the castle walls, while Akane simply declined to live in there. But Shampoo was never asked if she would like to live there (to be honest, Ranma was glad that she wasn't able to glomp him all the time).

Therefore, she continued the pursuit of her beloved Airen, often using her cat form to sneak into the castle. As she had fallen into the spring of drowned talking cat, she was still able to speak while being in her feline form (unlike Genma, who could only growl as a panda).

One day, when she was following Ranma as a cat, he was on his way into the treasure room. Shampoo decided to follow him, and so she walked through the labyrinth as well.

When they reached the treasure room, she hid behind the pile of diamonds while her Airen was looking at his mementos. She had planned to greet him afterwards. But after a while, she fell asleep, and when she woke up, Ranma was gone... and the thirteen doors were locked.

At first, Shampoo was panicking and desperately tried to find a way out of there. But it was to no avail, so she was stuck here. And because there was no hot water inside the treasure room, she was also stuck as a cat.

After some time, she got really hungry and feared she would starve. In her desperation, she began nibbling on the paper money... It was all she could do to avoid dying from hunger. To satisfy her thirst, she drank water that was dripping from the ceiling when it had rained.

It was already mentioned that it had been a long time since Ranma had visited the treasure room the last time, so Shampoo was stuck in there for weeks. Over that time, she had consumed nearly three million Nerimian Yen (Nerima's currency, almost the same value as the normal Yen, but the notes all were green-colored). The consumption of the green bank notes slowly made her fur and eyes take on a deep shade of green. By now, she couldn't even stand the thought of eating something else... she had become addicted to paper money.

And now, after all those weeks, she was finally free again.

----

Screaming like a banshee, Ranma ran through the labyrinth. He hurried through the secret door without closing it and ran up the stairs. He came out of the blue door and reached the backyard.

"WHAAAAAAAHHH!" he screeched. "CAT! CAT! CAAAAAT!"

Genma and Soun were just beginning their third round of Shogi when they heard Ranma's yells. They jumped to their feet and ran downstairs. Under the archway between the backyard and the inner ward, they met the king.

"What's up, Ranma?" his father asked. "What happened, boy?"

"A c-c-c... a c-c-c... a horrible monster in the treasure room!"

Genma sweatdropped. Of course it had to be a cat... It was the only thing that made Ranma react like this. "Don't worry, son!" he smirked. "We will take care of that! Right, Tendo?"

"Of course," his friend nodded. "Where is it, Ranma?"

"There! There!" the young king panted and gestured towards the blue door.

"Don't worry!" Genma grinned. "We'll take care of that problem. Come along, Tendo!"

"Wait!" Ranma stopped them in time. "If you go down there, you'll get lost."

Soun chuckled. "Ranma, we're not like that Hibiki boy, you know?"

"I know, but there's a maze down there... you need to know the correct way."

"Well, then come along and show us," his father said.

Ranma thought about it. He really was a good martial artist... the best, in his own eyes.

But going down there again and face that feline horror? He shuddered.

"Um... no, that's okay... I'll just tell you the way..." He coughed nervously. "Go down the stairs and move on until you reach the first cave. Go into the middle corridor, always take the middle way, go straight ahead and never turn left or right, then you'll reach some more stairs and the treasure room."

"All right, my boy," Genma nodded. "Leave it to us! Come on, my friend! It's time for Genma's..."

"And Soun's..."

Together, they shouted: "Operation Feline Pest-Control!"

----

Much can be said about Genma and Soun, and while they were excellent martial artists, they could also be quite the cowards.

But that sort of cowardice was nothing compared to what the two of them would feel that day. Because inside the labyrinth... they learned the meaning of fear.

It all started pretty harmless: They followed Ranma's instructions and followed the middle tunnel, walking straight ahead. But at one point, they must have made a mistake... Suddenly they entered an enormous cave, with a total of six tunnels in front of them.

"Which is the right one?" Genma frowned while scratching his bald head.

"The middle one, he said," Soun replied.

But now, the cave was round, and there was no middle one when the total of exits was six.

"Oh my," Soun quoted his eldest daughter. "You see what I see, Saotome?"

"We must have taken a wrong turn," Genma realized. "I think it's best we go back and ask Ranma again." So they turned around and looked for the way leading back.

But after a while, they had the feeling that they were in a corridor they haven't been in before.

"You know, I think this is the wrong way," Genma said

"Let's try the other one, then," Soun replied.

But the longer they were walking, the longer the feeling of being lost grew inside the two men.

"That's stupid," Soun grumbled. "I'm getting the feeling that this maze is bigger than the entire mountain."

"Wait, I think I know where we are," his friend said in an excited tone of voice. "I believe over there is the way leading back to the entrance. Ranma, my boy! We're coming!"

But suddenly, the corridor made a sharp turn... and once again, they were standing inside the big cave with the six additional exits.

Stunned, they stared at the six black holes in front of them.

"We're finished..." Soun whispered. "We'll never get out of here alive..."

"Don't be like that," Genma said angrily. "The master may be an old pervert, but he taught us to be strong in such situations. We have to keep trying."

But he only said that to encourage his old friend. Because he felt exactly the same as Soun.

"I know what we'll do," he finally said. "We'll grasp each others hands so we stay together, and then we just run. We run and run until we find the way leading back. You with me?"

"Okay," the Tendo patriarch sighed. "I guess we don't have any other choice."

"One... two... three!"

And the two gate guards started running through the corridors and tunnels. They ran and ran and ran. They must have run for at least an hour... or so it seemed to them. During that time, they ran through the massive cave with the six exits at least five times, and every time, they took another exit. But it was no use: They just couldn't find the way out.

When they finally were out of breath, they collapsed on the ground and panted. The torch they had been carrying fell to the ground and went out. Suddenly, everything around them was black... pitch black!

For a while, they heard nothing but their deep breaths.

"Saotome... are you there?" Soun then asked.

"Yes..." the king's adoptive father replied. "I'm here..." He felt around until he found his old friend. They sat down, with their backs leaning against each other and sighed.

"We'll never find a way out of here," Soun murmured.

Genma was starting to believe the same thing. The master may have made their life miserable... but that was nothing compared to the fear that was riding them by now. They were alone... Alone in the dark!

"Listen," he said weakly to his old friend. "There's one thing we still can do... Let's try calling for Ranma. Maybe the exit is nearby and we just don't know it... Perhaps he will hear us."

"Okay..." Soun said. "Let's give it a try. Let's shout together... One... Two... Three..."

"HEEEEEELLLLLPPP!"

----

Shampoo was still within the treasure room and nibbled on some paper money when she heard Genma's and Soun's shouts. It still sounded like they were far away, and she couldn't make out the words.

"Oh no," she said. "Guards are coming! They come here for Shampoo... I have to get out of here."

After scooping up as much Nerimian Yen as she could carry while being in her cat form, she hurried out of the treasure room, through the yard and down the spiral stairs, into the labyrinth...

----

Soun and Genma had screamed for help until their voices had gotten raspy and they were out of breath.

"This is the end..." Genma whispered. "We'll die in here..."

Soun didn't respond. He simply stared into the darkness...

But after a while, they could hear quick steps nearby. They were the steps of Shampoo, who was running through the dark corridors.

"Hear that, Tendo?" Genma asked and jumped to his feet. "That's my boy! Ranma!" But with his raspy voice, he didn't manage to shout very loud.

Soun jumped to his feet as well. He grasped his friends hand again. "Hurry, he went that way!"

The two men were making haste as they tried to follow the footsteps. They reached another corner, turned around... and were standing in front of the spiral stairs leading up.

For a while, they just stared at the stairs as if they were dreaming. Then, they ran upstairs and entered the circular yard with the treasure room building.

Suddenly, they regained their voices. Yelling in relief and joy, they jumped into the air, rolled around on the floor and laughed again and again.

When they calmed down, Genma took a more serious look at the building. "Tendo, remember what Ranma said? I think this is the treasure room..."

"You think the cat's still in there?" Tendo asked. After that scary experience, getting rid of a cat would be a nice, relaxing job.

"Dunno. Let's take a look..."

They went over to the building, passed through the thirteen open doors and looked into the treasure room.

Their first glance told them that no cat was inside.

On their second glance, they noticed the shining treasures lying within...

"Would you look at that, Tendo..." Genma murmured.

----

"I wonder what's taking them so long..." Ranma mumbled while pacing forth and back. "You'd think taking care of one little c-c-c... animal would be done nice and quickly."

He stopped and sighed. "I should have known better than sending those two to do the job... I better go and look after them."

He still was getting scared when he thought about the cat (because of the green fur, he hadn't recognized Shampoo), but now that the first shock was over, he could think more clearly.

Finally, he decided to go and look for his two guards. After all, the cat would likely be gone by now anyway. So he went back into the labyrinth, hurried through it and climbed up the stairs to the hidden yard.

Even before he entered the treasure building, he could hear crazy laughter and shouts of glee coming out of the treasure room.

"What the heck?" he murmured and went inside.

A strange sight was displayed in front of him: His father had wrapped at least a dozen of pearl necklets around his thick neck and was posing in front of a mirror with a golden frame, which was hanging on one of the walls. He was facing the opposite direction as Ranma, so he couldn't see his son.

Soun was sitting in the middle of the pile of golden coins with one of the reserve crowns on his head. He was laughing like crazy. He also didn't see Ranma, because the crown has been sliding down his face and covered his eyes. But he really didn't seem to care...

"I'm the king, Saotome!" he shouted again and again. "See that? I'm the king!"

Ranma grimaced. What were those two idiots doing?

[cough, cough

Genma turned around to see who was coughing... and the big smile on his face fell when he saw Ranma.

He gulped nervously. "Um, Tendo..."

Sound stopped laughing and took off the crown. When he saw Ranma, he smiled nervously. "Uh... hello there, Ranma..."

Ranma pointed towards the exit doors. "You two! Out! Now!"

The two men quickly obeyed the king's command, after Genma threw the pearl necklets to the ground.

When they were gone, Ranma sighed deeply. His gaze wandered to the chest with his mementos.

"At least they left my things alone," he mumbled to himself. Then, he picked up the pearl necklets from the ground and hung them back over the hooks at the wall. He scooped the coins back into a proper pile and put the reserve crown back onto its shelf.

After throwing one last glance at the bite marks on the paper money, he shook his head and left the treasure room.

Before re-locking the doors, he made sure that really no cat or anything else was left behind inside the room. When locking the final door, he turned around the key an additional time.

The two guards were waiting in the yard. They were looking bashfully at the ground.

Ranma stared at them for a while. Then he asked: "So, found any trace of... you know?"

Genma shook his head. "No, it was already gone when we arrived."

"Hmmm..." Ranma pondered. "Well, if it went down into the labyrinth, I doubt we will hear from it again... Okay, I think we can leave now... but first, let me tell you something. Listen carefully, okay?"

"O-okay!"

"Now remember: You have never seen a treasure or a treasure room today, got it?"

"R-ranma, what do you...?"

Soun nudged his friend. "We have never seen a treasure or a treasure room, your majesty!"

"And also no labyrinth."

"Labyrinth? What's that? Saotome, do you see any labyrinth around here?"

Genma understood. He looked up into the air. "Labyrinth? I don't even know what's that supposed to be."

"And secret doors?"

"Secret doors..." Genma chuckled. "Now, that would be pretty silly, wouldn't it, Tendo?"

Ranma shook his head. He wondered if he could trust those two that they really wouldn't tell anyone else about this...

"All right, come along... or do you wanna stay behind?"

Quickly, Soun and Genma followed their young king, as they surely didn't want to get lost a second time.

----

When they got back into the yard with Nabiki's workshop, Ranma closed the blue door. Then, he turned back around to face his two guards.

"Okay, one last time, to make it clear: You haven't seen a treasure, a treasure room, a labyrinth or secret doors, got it?"

Soun and Genma looked at each other.

"I don't even know what you're talking about, Ranma," Genma replied.

Ranma smiled. "Good boys! And now, back to your posts!" And he walked back into the castle.

Soun and Genma hurried back into their guardroom, where they fell down into their chairs.

"That was one crazy day, wasn't it, Tendo?" Genma groaned.

"You can say that again," his old buddy nodded.

----

Ranma walked down into the kitchen where Yuka and Sayuri were helping Ukyo with the dishes.

Ukyo's face lit up when she saw her favorite king. "Ranchan! Why, what brings you down here?"

Ranma smiled back. "Hey, Ucchan! Well, I decided to go early to bed today... you got something quick for me, something that helps me sleep?"

Ukyo grinned at him. "Don't worry, Ranchan! I'll make you my 'Have-a-Good-Night Okonomiyaki'... that will guarantee some sweet dreams. You want some water with it?"

Ranma shook his head. "Naw, just a glass of milk. Helps me falling asleep all the time..."

Ukyo shrugged. Milk and Okonomiyaki... well, he's the king. "You got it, Ranchan! Yuka will bring it up to you once it's ready!"

"Thanks, Ucchan!"

Ranma went back into his bedroom. It was still early, true, but today really had been an eventful day. He sat down on the edge of his bed and took a look at the newspaper that was lying next to him.

His gaze fell on a big headline: 'Mysterious robberies within Saotokyo. The Black Rose Trio strikes again. Citizens, close your windows at night!'

Ranma shook his head. "Well, doesn't matter for me..." he mumbled. "No one can get into the castle anyway..." He grumbled. "If those gate guards would do their job..."

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. It was Yuka, and she brought his food and drink.

"Ah," Ranma said. "Thank you, Yuka-chan!"

Yuka smiled as she put down the tray. "Have a good meal, and a good sleep!" Then she bowed and left.

Quickly, Ranma ate the okonomiyaki and emptied the glass of milk in one gulp. Then he got ready for bed.

After lying down, he sighed one last time and closed his eyes.

----

Deep within the labyrinth, Shampoo was as lost as the two guards had been. But she wasn't afraid. After the long time within the treasure room, she had gotten used to the darkness. She enjoyed running through the endless corridors and decided to explore every single part of the labyrinth. It never occured to her that the exits of the labyrinth were closed and that she, once again, was trapped...


	3. Enter the Black Rose Trio

It was a nice evening. Kasumi hummed to herself as she walked down from the tower in which her own chamber was situated.

In the inner ward, she met with Ukyo. "Hey, Kasumi," the chef greeted her. "Nice evening, huh?"

"Yes, indeed," Kasumi smiled back. "Just right for us to go down to town... But wait a minute! Nabiki isn't here yet."

"Well, we should look for her, then," Ukyo suggested. "Or we'll be late."

But when they entered Nabiki's little shack, they found her sitting at her desk, the floor strewn with rumpled balls of paper and small pencil stumps.

"Go without me," she said absent-minded. "I really don't have the time... Man, Kasumi, you know what you put me up with? Storm Machine... now that's a hard nut to crack."

"But you can do it, right?" Kasumi asked.

"Oh, I'm working on it, all right... But there are still some parts left that I still have no idea how they will work..."

She produced a piece of paper. "Look, that's what I came up with... Creating a storm out of thin air would be nearly impossible... But capturing one, that will work. Inside the metal container, lightning will be stored. There's a strong iron lure inside... they won't be able to resist. And the inside of the hull is being isolated with rubber. But to get in, they have to go through the trumpet first..."

"The trumpet..." Ukyo nodded. "Ah, I see... very interesting..."

"Yes, but the biggest problem is the fuel... I don't know how I can make it make fly with the things I have."

Kasumi looked at the clock. "Oh, Ukyo... we're gonna be late. Nabiki, you have to tell us some other time. And please, lend us your bike, okay? Or we won't be able to make it in time..."

"No problem, I fixed the screw," Nabiki nodded. "And I also oiled it... works perfectly fine now!"

Kasumi and Ukyo left the shack, and Kasumi got the special bike Nabiki had tinkered for Ranma.

"A trumpet!" Ukyo suddenly blurted out. "She wants to catch a storm using a trumpet! I'll eat my spatula if that works out..."

"Nabiki will do fine," Kasumi smiled. "In the end, we will have the most beautiful bad weather you can imagine."

They reached the gate. Kasumi looked up to the window of the guardroom. "Father? Mr. Saotome? Would you please open the gate?"

Her father looked out of the window and nodded. Shortly after, the gate came down.

After stepping out of the castle, the coiffeur and the chef sat down on the bike. Ukyo would steer, and Kasumi was sitting behind her.

Ukyo began pedaling, and then they were rolling down the road that was leading directly to the big plaza in Saotokyo.

Kasumi sighed as she felt the wind in her face. "Isn't that a nice breeze?" she asked.

"Sure is," Ukyo shouted back. "And I can steer this thing nicely."

"See? Everything Nabiki builds is flawless."

"Well, I'm not too sure about that..." Ukyo suddenly said.

"What did you say?" Kasumi shouted back. She really had to shout now, as they were going very fast.

Ukyo opened her mouth and yelled: "I DON'T SEE ANY BRAKES ON THIS THING!"

Kasumi gasped. Ukyo was right... there were no brakes on the handle bar. Ukyo tried pedaling backwards... it didn't work.

By now, they were rushing down the mountain trail with breakneck speed. The trees and bushes were zooming past them so quickly, Kasumi couldn't see them clearly.

Then they reached town. Luckily, the main street started at the foot of the hill, and was leading straight ahead until it reached the main plaza. But when they reached it...

"The fountain!" Kasumi shouted. "Look out! The fountain!"

Ukyo tried dodging it, but it was too late. The bike smacked against the stone wall of the fountain that was standing in the middle of the plaza, and the two girls suddenly found themselves flying through the air, and landing within the fountain's basin with a big, wet SPLASH.

Behind the well, the doors of the bakery flew open and various people came running out.

"An accident," a woman shouted.

"Call for an ambulance," a man shouted.

Ukyo and Kasumi climbed out of the basin. "No, that's not necessary," Ukyo shouted. "We're not hurt! But you could bring us some towels..."

A short time later, they were standing next to the fountain, wrapped in a pair of towels.

Ukyo was fuming. "Damn that Nabiki! I tell you, when I see her the next time, I'll put her on her goddamn bike and then she can take the same route down that hill, I swear it!"

Kasumi took a look at the bike. "See that, Ukyo? The bike didn't even get a scratch. While her work may have some flaws sometimes, all of her inventions are made for eternity."

A tall, red-headed woman was coming through the crowd. It was Nodoka Saotome, adoptive mother of Ranma and the owner of the bakery. When she saw the two wet girls, she gasped. "Ukyo-chan! Kasumi-chan! You're not hurt, are you?"

Kasumi smiled. "Not at all, Auntie! Just a little bit wet. But if we could warm up in the bakery, please?"

"Oh, of course... please, come in!"

Everyone went back inside, and Nodoka led Ukyo and Kasumi to a big table at which they all sat down. A woman was putting two big jars of hot cocoa in front of the wet girls.

After everyone settled down, Kasumi stood up and cleared her throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming! In a few days, we will celebrate the birthday of our much valued monarch, King Ranma the 1st!"

Everyone applauded.

"Now, as I have learned, His Majesty has four special wishes for his birthday. I have called for this meeting so we could make those wishes come true.

I also welcome the delegation from the embassy of Juuban, together with the ambassador, Her Excellency, Setsuna Meioh!"

A beautiful woman with green hair nodded in return.

Kasumi continued: "His Majesty is wishing for four things: A special cake, a magician, a thunderstorm and a pony!

The thunderstorm and the magician will be taken care of by the castle staff, so we won't have to think about those at this meeting."

"Yeah..." Ukyo murmured and groaned. "Trumpet..."

"We will be talking about the pony and the cake. Let's talk about the pony first. Your Excellency..." She addressed the ambassador of Juuban. "We have invited you because your country is known for its grand ranches. Can you help us out?"

Setsuna Meioh stood up.

"We would be honored to select a fine horse for King Ranma," the green-haired woman said. "What color would he prefer: Brown, black or white?"

"Well... Oh my..." Kasumi hesitated. "He didn't say which color... but I'd say, a black horse would be most fitting."

"Very well... a black horse it will be." Ambassador Meioh nodded and sat back down on her chair.

Kasumi coughed. That went surprisingly well...

"Well... now let's talk about the cake." Nodoka and her employees were listening intently.

"King Ranma is wishing for a cake that would look nothing like a normal cake... he would look at it and for a short time, not even realize that he's looking at a cake."

"Ah, I understand," a young trainee nodded. "You mean, like a hippo or an elephant."

"No, let's make that a horse," someone else shouted. "It would be more fitting for his name and all..."

"Nah, he already gets a horse... how about a bull?"

"Hey, he's the king, right?" a woman said. "So how about a lion?"

And then, everyone was shouting wildly: "Pig! Dog! Panda! Whale!"

"Now, now... settle down, everyone!" Nodoka needed a few moments to calm the excited people down.

"I thought about it," Ukyo said. "And I think we shouldn't make it look like an animal, but like something even more unpredictable, so he would be even more surprised."

"Good idea," Kasumi nodded. "Any ideas?"

"A car?" someone suggested.

"No, a cake shaped like a training dojo," another man said. "He's a martial artist, after all."

And then, it began anew: "Steamboat! Skyscraper! Rocket!"

"Now, people..." Nodoka shouted. "One after another, please!"

"I just got an idea," Kasumi smiled. "How about making the cake look like a big chandelier? We'll hang it to the ceiling of the big ballroom in the castle, and then we darken the room, so that only the candles on the chandelier cake are burning. And then we all sing a nice birthday song, while the chandelier slowly descends..." She beamed.

"Um... an interesting idea," Ukyo nodded. "Nice. I really like it. But... somehow, it's not fitting for someone like Ranchan..."

Just then, Setsuna Meioh raised her hand. "If I may... we might have an idea. My assistant, Miss Ami Mizuno, just whispered something to me..."

A cute girl with blue hair and a shy expression on her face stood up. Ukyo could see how nervous the girl had to be, everyone in the room was looking at her, and she looked down at the table with a blush.

For a while, nobody said anything. Then, Ami said in a quiet voice: "I thought we could make a cake that looks like King Ranma himself."

Everyone was stunned after that suggestion. Then, Ukyo grinned.

"That... was the best idea I've heard this evening."

Most of the bakery's staff cheered and clapped their hands. "Splendid," Nodoka gushed. "My Ranma as a delicious cake... he surely will be impressed."

"Yes, and the cake has to be 60 inches tall," someone shouted.

"100 inches," Ukyo shouted.

"No, 120 inches," Kasumi said.

"Yes, 120 inches," Nodoka nodded. Ami blinked in confusion as everyone was trying to talk at the same time, to add his or her own suggestion for the cake. But it was clear that everyone thought it would be a great idea. Was it really that great? It seemed logical to her...

Finally, everything calmed down. Everyone agreed that the birthday cake had to look like Ranma, wearing his old Chinese clothes, and it would measure 120 inches. A delegation from Juuban would bring the black horse, but the cake surely would be the highlight of the festivities.

Everyone agreed that this birthday would be a big success. After everything had been discussed, the meeting was officially over, and one after another, everyone left the room.

But Kasumi still was in deep thought. Okay, she could now be sure that the horse and cake were no problem at all. But would Ranma really forget about the magician wish when everything else was fine? And what if Nabiki couldn't finish the Storm Machine in time?

Kasumi never questioned the technical abilities of her sister, but she might have some problems finishing her work in time. Perhaps if someone else would help her…?

And Kasumi already had a certain person in mind.

When Setsuna Meioh and her entourage left the building, Kasumi managed to catch up with her at the door. "Your Excellency! Please, could you wait for a second? We have a slight problem within the castle, but I thought about it... perhaps Miss Mizuno would be able to help us. She would have to come back with us to the castle, though..."

"We would be happy to help out," the ambassador said with a smile. "Ami... would you be willing to help out Miss Tendo some more?"

Ami stepped forward. "I would be glad to come to the castle. How could I be of assistance?"

"It's about a very special project," Kasumi explained. "And I think if you have some more brilliant ideas like today, everything will work out just fine. It's about an invention that is being built for the king's birthday."

"Well, I'll try to do my best," the blue-haired girl smiled. "Although I would have to take a look at the blueprints first... You know, I mostly get good ideas when I least suspect it."

And that settled it. Ami, Kasumi and Ukyo wished Nodoka and the ambassador a good night and began their long way back up the mountain trail.

While Ukyo was pushing the bike, Kasumi told Ami everything about the machine Nabiki was working on. After some time, they were back at the castle.

After Soun and Genma let them back into the inner ward, they went over to the backyard to return Nabiki's bike.

They placed it next to the shack, then Kasumi opened the door and found her sister asleep over a pile of paper, snoring softly.

"Poor Nabiki," she said as she put a warm blanket over Nabiki's shoulders. "She must have worked so hard on her project… She must have overstrained herself." She then closed the door.

"Well, certainly not while she was constructing this bike..." Ukyo grumbled and gave the vehicle a slight kick.

Kasumi invited Ami to sleep in the guestroom next to her own chamber. Shortly afterwards, they wished each other a good night and went to bed.

----

While everyone else was still up and awake, Genma and Soun still had to stay up and guard the castle gates.

After playing several rounds of Shogi, their old game quickly became boring.

Genma groaned. He was tired, and he missed his sake... "Hey, Tendo... let's play something else, okay?"

"Fine," his old friend replied. "What do you have in mind?"

"How about a quick game of dice?"

"Fine with me!"

Soun took some dice and a dice box and they sat down at the table.

Soun started, rolling the dice over the furniture's wooden surface.

When both dice stopped, the first one showed a four, and the second one... fell down on the floor, where it turned into a six.

"That doesn't count," Genma insisted. "You have to try again if it drops to the floor."

"Well, okay then..." Soun rolled the dice again, and this time, it stayed on the table. But, it once again turned out to be a six...

Genma grumbled. "Beginner's luck... now it's my turn." He started to regret suggesting this game... there was barely any way to cheat...

After he threw the dice, the result was a three and a one.

Genma frowned. "Well, whatever..." he grumbled. "The game has just started..."

But, shortly after that, Soun was getting two sixes at once...

----

While the two guards were playing their game, three dark shapes were coming up the hill. They made sure that no one would see them from the castle and stayed hidden within the bushes.

A dark-haired, pony-tailed girl stuck her head out of a big shrub near the castle gate. "All right, my followers... are you ready? Let's proceed with my ingenious plan..."

Another girl with shorter hair appeared next to her. "You sure that's a good idea, Kodachi? After all, most of our plan depends on pig-boy here..." And she threw the only male member of their group a dark glare.

Ryoga felt offended, but he didn't complain. After all, he only joined Kodachi's little gang of thieves because of Akane. He had to make sure she was all right... He couldn't change her idea of being a thief, fine! The very least he could do was to protect her.

"I... I'll try to do my best, Akane," he said with determination.

"All right then, my loyal vassals..." the Black Rose grinned. "It is time to relieve my Ranma-darling from his heavy crown..."

The Black Rose Trio has used the past few weeks to get infamous among the inhabitants of Saotokyo by breaking into their houses and stealing everything that Kodachi wanted to claim as her own.

Because Kodachi's plans were to be a queen herself. Her Ranma-darling didn't want to marry her? Well then, she just had to relieve him of everything he owned. Kodachi firmly believed that only the rich people had the right to be of nobility. While she and her family had been rich once, the stupid lavish behavior of her brother and father had caused the Kuno family to slowly lose all of their wealth... and they had to live on the streets.

Kodachi was furious with her brother and father and decided never to get near them again. Instead, she preferred to gather money on her own... even if it was an illegal way.

Akane met her some time after she started her career as a thief and agreed to join her. After Ranma became king and invited everyone of his old friends to live at the castle, she had felt betrayed. Why should she bother to go after that jerk if he had Ukyo and her sisters? She was more than happy to leave him in his castle... Yes, Akane was certain that the crown on his head had turned Ranma into an even bigger jerk than he had been before.

Ryoga had just come along because of Akane. The youngest Tendo sister had never shown any signs of returning his affections, but at least she tolerated him nearby.

The three thieves looked at the small window next to the big drawbridge... the guardroom's window.

"Okay, Ryoga... you know what to do. You got the sake?"

The bandana-clad boy nodded and raised a bottle. "Yup! I'm ready, Akane!"

"Then let's begin," Kodachi grinned. "Today... we will steal the king's crown!"


	4. Kodachi's Biggest Coup

Kodachi had been planning to steal Ranma's crown for some time now. Akane knew where the window to the king's chamber was situated, and she also knew that her father and Genma were the gatekeepers.

After some thorough planning, Kodachi came up with the following plan: Ryoga should distract Genma and Soun and made them invite him into the castle, so they had to open the gate for a short time. Akane and Kodachi would then sneak into the castle and into the backyard, where Kodachi would climb up the vines that were growing beneath Ranma's window. Up his his bedroom, she would open the safe with the combination which Akane had been able to pilfer from Nabiki. When she had the crown, they could easily escape.

A good plan! A solid plan! It just had one weak point: Most of its success was depending on Ryoga… and Akane wasn't really convinced that he was up to it.

"He'll get lost as soon as he enters the castle," she complained to Kodachi, but the leader of the bandit gang didn't want to hear it. Besides, Ryoga wanted nothing more than to prove himself to Akane. Well, this was his chance.

So this evening, they were all in front of the castle. Akane and Kodachi were hiding behind some bushes, while Ryoga was nervously approaching the gate.

"What is he doing?" Akane grumbled. "How long does he plan on standing there? He's supposed to call my father and Genma!"

Ryoga cleared his throat and called up to the small window of the guardroom: "Um… excuse me? Mr. Saotome?"

Seconds after that, Genma's head appeared in the window. "Who called…? Oh, it's just you, Ryoga! Long time no see! How have you been?"

"Well, uh, I can't complain… listen, I was wondering…"

"Wait a minute, my boy…" Genma's eyes grew big. "That bottle you are holding… could that possibly be…?"

"Well, it's sake… n-nice and light sake, a very good brand on top of that."

"And… just what were you planning to do with this sake bottle this evening, boy? Not that I would care about your sake, but… I'm kinda curious…"

Ryoga sweated. "W-well, I was wondering… it has been some time since I have been in town, so I figured… I could share this niiice sake with a couple of old friends… you wouldn't possibly interested, wouldn't you?"

Almost instantly, the drawbridge got lowered.

"Come in, my boy!" Genma grinned invitingly. "Come in, and try not to get lost on your way up!"

"Um, th-thanks…" Ryoga looked back to where Akane and Kodachi were still hiding, and when he saw them urging him on to go, he disappeared in the door that was leading up to the guardroom.

"Now!" Kodachi commanded, and the two girls ran across the drawbridge, just as Ryoga was vanishing inside the door.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would be," Kodachi grinned. "Now all that stays between me and my crown are my very own superior acrobatic skills…"

"Don't be too modest, 'boss'," Akane said sarcastically. "Here, it's this way…"

She lead her boss to the entrance of the inner courtyard, while they made sure to always stay close to the walls, where there were dark shadows.

Finally, they were standing underneath Ranma's bedroom window… Nearby, they could hear Nabiki's soft snoring coming out of her small shack.

"It's pretty high up, you think you'll make it?" Akane asked.

"How dare you questioning the skills of your noble leader?" Kodachi huffed. "No wall will be too high for me to reach my goals… And my Ranma-darling can hide behind as many castle walls as he wants, in the end, I shall find him!"

She almost laughed her infamous laugh, but she managed to supress it in the last instant.

"Well, here I go!" Kodachi smirked as she reached for the ivy to climb up the wall.

"Good luck!" Akane whispered.

Kodachi skillfully climbed up the wall and leapt through the open window. Now her gymnastic skills paid off.

Ranma was sleeping peacefully in the middle of his huge bed. Not a single sound could wake him up, Ukyo's 'good night okonomiyaki' was doing its job very well.

Tiptoing over to a painting that was hanging from the wall, Kodachi carefully pressed its frame. A soft click, and the window swung to the side, revealing the hidden safe.

"Now let's see if that combination was worth the time…" Kodachi muttered as she pulled out the small piece of paper Akane had snatched from her sister.

She entered the combination and sure enough, the safe opened.

Kodachi grinned with glee when she saw the golden, glittering crown lying in front of her eyes.

"Come to me, my pretty…" she whispered. "And I shall become the queen of…"

"No! No, it's mine!" Ranma suddenly mumbled.

Kodachi pulled back her hands in surprise and looked back at Ranma. He was still sound asleep. He was dreaming of a giant pile of food, and when Kodachi had tried reaching for the crown, Genma in his panda form had appeared in his dream, trying to steal the food from him. But after she had pulled her hands back, the panda left.

"Now, keep on sleeping, dearest Ranma," Kodachi sneered. "You don't want to wake everyone up, do you?"

She sighed in relief when Ranma stayed silent and reached for the crown one more time.

Ranma let out a groan. In his dream, the panda was returning.

Kodachi almost let out an angry hiss. That was much more difficult than she thought it would be. How should she do this…

She looked around the room. Underneath the big bed, she could see… the royal chamber pot.

She go an idea and grinned diabolically. Carefully she snuck up to the bed and took the pot from under the bed… Ranma didn't even budge… and walked back over to where the safe was.

"Now let's try that again…" she murmured and reached for the crown. At the same time, her other hand was bringing the chamber pot to the place where the crown was lying… and with a swift move, she switched out the two items.

She almost laughed. Ranma would be in for a surprise when he looked for his crown the next time.

She gracefully put the crown on her head and walked back to the window. She turned around and gave the sleeping king a courteous bow… then she climbed back down into the courtyard, where Akane was waiting.

"Well?" she short-haired Tendo asked. "Did you get it?"

Kodachi grinned. "Could you imagine how a king would look like if he had a chamber pot on his head, instead of a crown?"

"What?" Akane asked. "Are you nuts? What about the crown?"

"Here, feel it…" Kodachi said and bowed her head in the darkness.

Akane reached up… and grinned when she felt the crown sitting on Kodachi's head. "Good job! Now, let's go get Ryoga and get out of here!"

----

Meanwhile, Ryoga was sitting with Genma and Soun, who were glad that they were in the company of such a generous young man… and the sake bottle on their table was already half empty.

The sleeping drug Kodachi had put into the sake was already showing its effects…

"Ya know…" Soun said in a babbling voice. "We're so thirsty because Ranma took away our own sake before he went down to the treasure room…"

"The treasure room?" For a while, Ryoga forgot his nervousness and listened intently.

"Yeeeeeesh…" Genma uttered. "We're not shupposhed to tell anyone, but you wouldn't tell it to any bad guysh, right, shon?"

"I wouldn't think of it," Ryoga chuckled as he crossed his fingers behind his back.

"The king hash a huuuge amount of treashuresh, I tell you…" Genma boasted. "Gold, pearlsh, diamondsh… Here, boy, take a swig…" And he handed the bottle over to Ryoga.

"But… isn't the treasure room well hidden?" Ryoga asked... and took a sip of the bottle. He realized his mistake when it was too late.

'I'm such a fool…' he told himself. 'Akane's gonna make pork roast out of me…'

"Well, yes… but only if you don't know the correct way…" Soun said and let out a loud belch. "There's a blue door in the courtyard… and behind it, a secret door. And behind that secret door, there's a terrible… terribibblllle…" His voice was becoming slurry. "Labyrinth… got lost…" His eyelids were slowly closing.

"Thirteen doorsh and thirteen shecurity locksh…" Genma murmured. "Aaaaabbsholutely shafe annnd shecure…" Then his head fell down on the table and he started snoring as well.

Ryoga jumped to his feet. "I've got to get away before it's too late," he said and ran out of the room. But already on the stairs he felt that he wouldn't make it. As the sleepiness took over, his body slid down to the ground, where he snoozed peacefully.

hr 

That's where Akane and Kodachi found him after they returned with the crown.

"Would you take a look at that?" Akane ranted. "The idiot must have drunk some of the sake as well…"

"Great, what now?" Kodachi sighed. "The buffoon's way too heavy for us to carry, and we can't leave him behind or he'll tell everyone that we stole the crown."

"Wait, I have an idea," Akane suddenly said. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

And while Kodachi dragged the unconscious Ryoga down the stairs, Akane quickly ran back into the inner courtyard, where she had seen something near her sister's shack… something extremely useful.

When Akane returned, Kodachi looked at the mountain bike she was holding.

Akane grinned. "Seems like Nabiki has unwillingly lend us a vehicle to escape. Put Ryoga on the backside, and away we'll go!"

"Splendid!" Kodachi smiled. "But I'll drive… no one will be able to catch up with a gorgeous queen like me, with a golden crown on my head, and a fast vehicle underneath me…"

They quickly draped Ryoga on the bike's backside and ran across the still open drawbridge. Then they sat up on the bike and rolled down the hill.

Kodachi really felt like a queen as the wind was blowing through her hair. And she was right: A crown and a fast bike, what else could she ask for?

Well, except maybe for some brakes… and we all know that Nabiki's super-bike didn't have any of those!

Kodachi started to panic when she noticed the lack of these very important attachments. She was quick-witted enough not to steer the bike towards town, but to the forest, where their lair was hidden.

But that turned out to be their downfall, as the pony-tailed bandit leader wasn't able to dodge all of the incoming trees. The bike chose a nicely grown cherry tree at the edge of the forest.

WHAM!

The sleeping Ryoga got thrown off the bike upon impact, flew over the treetops… and was gone!

Akane flew after him, made a double roll in the air (not deliberately) and landed inside a thorny bush.

Kodachi didn't fly anywhere. She just collided! She collided with the solid trunk of the big tree, with a force that made her lose consciousness on the spot!

But unlike her, the crown flew away… away into the darkness…


	5. The Flying Agaric

Ami Mizuno had spent the night within Kasumi's chamber in the castle tower, on her couch.

Ami was standing at the window and looked outside: The view was clear and she could see every street down in Saotokyo. In the far distance, she could even see the border of Juuban Kingdom, where she was from.

She liked it in the castle very much. She almost wished she could stay here for a longer time…

Kasumi came in, carrying a tray with warm croissants and a pot of coffee. "Good morning, Ami-chan," she said with a smile. She was in good spirits, as usual. "How did you sleep?"

"Great!" Ami said and smiled at her hostess. "Thanks for letting me stay here, Miss Tendo!"

"Please, call me Kasumi," the coiffeur said. "But now we should hurry with our breakfast, Ami. King Ranma might still be asleep, but when he wakes up, I have to tend to my duties."

"Is he really such a strong fighter as everyone says?" Ami asked in awe as she put butter on her croissant.

"Oh my, yes!" Kasumi replied. "And he is very proud of his abilities. Although I'm afraid that he is a bit depressed, since no one challenges him any more, ever since he became king…"

Kasumi emptied her coffee mug and went over to her bathroom, where she gathered all the tools she needed for her job.

Ami followed her. "Ooooh, that smells nice!" In fact, Kasumi's bathroom looked more than a complete perfumery, filled with all kinds of perfumes, oils and other essences.

Kasumi put everything she needed in her bag. "Yes," she said. "All of this belonged to the coiffeur of the earlier king… Ranma's real father. After I decided to become Ranma's new coiffeur, I was allowed to use everything the old hairdresser left me behind."

She took a small bottle from a shelf. She put a few drops of the oil it contained on her hand and massaged it into her skin. She then offered some to her guest. "You want a bit? Rocknut Oil, a very rare sort. Makes you feel fresh and fit!"

"I guess I'll try it then," Ami said and took a few drops as well.

Afterwards, they climbed down to the inner courtyard, where they already could hear loud hammering.

"Ah, Nabiki's already working on the Storm Machine. That's a good sign she's taking her job seriously."

Nabiki was working behind her shack, so Ranma wouldn't see her invention when he looked out of his window. She already had constructed the main structure of the machine.

"Good morning, Nabiki!" Kasumi said in her pleasant voice. "Well, it looks like you are busy this morning. Is everything going along nicely?"

"It sure does," Nabiki said as she wiped her brows. "But say, Kasumi, where did you put my bike? You didn't break it did you?"

"I don't think anyone is able to break your bike just like that," Kasumi smirked. "Did you notice that you didn't install any brakes? If I was you, I would avoid Ukyo for today. She is quite mad at you. We had a little accident yesterday, in Saotokyo. I'm telling you, it was kinda scary to find out that your little vehicle had no brakes. Oh well, at least we didn't get hurt…"

"I'm sorry about that," Nabiki said contritely. "I will add a few brakes right away. But where did you put it after you came home?"

"We left it here, in front of your shack, right, Ami?"

"Yes, we did," the Juuban girl nodded.

"But it's not there!" Nabiki insisted.

"Well, I'm sure it will show up, given some time… By the way, I'd like to introduce you to your new assistant: Ami Mizuno!"

"Pleased to meet you!" Ami said with a bow.

Nabiki frowned. "Assistant? Sorry, not interested! I don't need any assistant, I'm a genius! I always work alone!"

"And then you might forget such things as brakes," Kasumi said with a frown. "Nabiki, apologize to Ami right now, or else you're not a genius any more in my eyes, only a poor botcher!"

"S… sorry about that…" Nabiki murmured. Being called a botcher by her sister had really made her feel guilty.

"Now, shake hands!" Kasumi said.

Nabiki reluctantly offered her hand to Ami, who shook it.

"I really don't want to intrude," Ami said. "I'm just here to help! And, to be honest, I don't really know the first thing about Storm Machines…"

"Ah, that's not hard to grasp at all," Nabiki explained. "The only things you need are an iron lure and a trumpet."

"Very interesting," Ami said. "Especially the part about the trumpet. How did you get that idea?"

Kasumi grinned when she heard how the two girls started to chat with each other excitedly. It seemed to her as if the two of them were one of a kind. "Well, have fun, you two!" she said as she left to attend to her duties.

"The only thing I'm worried about is the fuel…" Nabiki went on as both of them vanished in her shack.

----

While Kasumi was heading up the stairs, she met with Sayuri.

"There you are, Kasumi!" the chambermaid said. "King Ranma was already calling for you. He's in a very bad mood today. He said someone had made such a racket in front of his window that he woke up from it. I'm telling you, I'm worried about the king… did you know that the chamber pot from his room is missing?"

"I'll go and look what's wrong with him," Kasumi said.

When she entered the king's chamber, Ranma was sitting on the edge of his bed and was holding his head. He groaned.

Kasumi smiled. "Good morning, Ranma!"

Ranma mumbled something unintelligible. Then he asked: "Kasumi, who's making such a racket this morning? My head's hurting, I'm telling ya…"

"I think that's just Nabiki," Kasumi said. "I think she's working on one of her machines. Don't worry about it, Ranma! See, it's such a beautiful morning today…" And she opened the curtains.

"Nooo, close them, Kasumi!" Ranma groaned as he shielded his eyes from the sun. He felt miserable this morning. He couldn't quite grasp the reason, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything.

"Kasumi, I'm afraid I'm not feeling too well this morning… I have the feeling I have an incurable illness or something like that…"

"Now, I wouldn't say that, Ranma!" Kasumi frowned. "It's not too easy to cure an incurable illness, and on top of that, they are painful in most cases."

"What am I supposed to do?" Ranma sighed. "Nothing amuses or entertains me any more… I'm getting sick of this life, I'm telling you!"

Kasumi now had the feeling she knew what was wrong with Ranma: He was suffering from depressions.

"Ranma, I just had a nice idea: Why don't you go downstairs into the dojo and practice your fighting skills? You always were so cheerful after a good spar…"

"I don't even have a sparring partner…" Ranma protested.

"Now, now, don't give me that! You can always asked your father, right?"

"Then I'd rather spar by myself…" Ranma muttered, but he realized Kasumi was right, he really needed to unwind. And a nice spar really should be the right thing.

He stood up and said: "We'll skip the hairdressing today, Kasumi! Right now, I need to go to the dojo!" He gave her a faint smirk and left the room.

Kasumi sighed. "Oh, Ranma… I really hope you'll feel better after this." She then looked under the bed. Sayuri was right… the royal chamber pot was missing.

She looked through the whole room, but found nothing. Suddenly, she got a weird idea and looked into the safe behind the painting.

She sighed again when instead of the crown, she saw the chamber pot placed inside the safe. "Oh my… How could he have done such a mistake?"

She put the pot back under the bed and hoped that Ranma wouldn't notice that the crown was missing.

When she was back on the corridor, she suddenly got the idea that the crown might be stolen. It was a weird idea, but not completely questionable. A skilled acrobat should be able to easily climb up the vines growing underneath Ranma's window…

Kasumi ran downstairs into the courtyard. Underneath Ranma's bedroom window, she could see that there were many leaves lying on the ground. It all made sense now, and she also remembered Nabiki's missing bike.

She clearly could see it: The thief as he sat upon Nabiki's bike with the stolen crown, and then cycled out of the castle.

Kasumi ran over to the guardroom. What she saw up there didn't surprise her anymore: An empty sake bottle was standing on the table, and her father and Mr. Saotome were lying on the floor.

Kasumi knelt down next to her father and gently shook him. "Father? Father, wake up!"

Soun groaned. "Ka… Kasumi? Oooooh… I'm not feeling too good…"

Genma began to stir as well. "Uncle Saotome?" Kasumi asked in worry. "What happened? Whatever did you drink that you look so miserable?"

"I can't remember, Kasumi…" Genma groaned. "Right now, I feel sooo sick…"

"Ryoga…" Soun muttered. "Ryoga came and brought us sake."

"Ryoga-kun?" Kasumi asked in surprise. "Are you certain, father?"

"I am, Kasumi, I… UUUUUGHH! I gotta puke!!" And he staggered towards the window.

Kasumi sighed. "I don't know why Ryoga-kun would do this, but if he gave you the sake, I guess I know what happened." She smelt the bottle and wrinkled her nose. "Well, that's definitely no normal sake…"

"Never again… never again will I drink that horrible stuff!" Genma retched.

"That's a good decision, Uncle Saotome! All you get from it is trouble!" She almost hoped they would feel like this for several days, so she could be sure that they really kept that promise. But, being Kasumi, such thoughts quickly disappeared from her mind.

Kasumi went into the kitchen and ordered two cups of strong coffee for her father and Genma. "Now I can only hope that Ranma doesn't notice that the crown is gone…" she murmured. "And the day started so good…"

----

Nabiki and Ami quickly became good friends. Maybe it was because both of them were pretty intelligent girls, maybe it was because Ami was a patient listener while Nabiki loved to brag.

Nabiki looked at her plans, talked and talked, gestured at the various drawings she did and tried to explain everything in great detail.

"Here, we're going to sit in this box," she said. "And we'll attach the propellers at the front and the backside. So we can easily control the flight path of the machine…"

"You mean… you want me to come along?" Ami asked in surprise.

"Of course!" Nabiki said, similarly surprised. "Don't tell me you don't want to…"

"Well, I'd love to," Ami said. "If I'm not a bother…"

"Nonsense!" Nabiki grinned. "You'd be a great help, I could need someone to steer the machine while I'm getting the machine ready to capture lightning and thunder. But, you know… as long as we don't find the right fuel, we can't even raise this thing from the ground. What we need is something strong, that is powerful enough to lift the whole thing into the air…"

"I know something!" Ami then said. "A Flying Agaric!"

"A what?" Nabiki frowned. "Don't you mean a 'fly agaric'? Those mushrooms are just poisonous and certainly won't help us with our fuel."

"No, you heard correctly! The mushrooms I'm talking about are really called FLYING Agarics. They are white and have red dots, while Fly Agarics are red and have white dots. Besides, the Flying Agarics don't grow on the forest ground, but on trees."

"Never heard of them," Nabiki admitted. "And what's so special about them?"

"Well, my mother often told me about them when I was younger. She said that she had once eaten a Flying Agaric when she was a child, and afterwards, her body was so light that she almost didn't touch the ground. She flew, you see?"

Nabiki wasn't too convinced. "Are you sure your mother didn't just pull your leg?"

"She wouldn't do that!" Ami said in a determined voice. "My mother is a very earnest woman. What she told me had always been correct. I thought we might be able to make the machine fly, if we put mix a mushroom with normal fuel…"

Nabiki scratched her head. "Well, it's worth a try…"

"The only problem is that Flying Agarics are pretty rare," Ami pointed out. "But I could go to Saotokyo Forest and see if I can find some while you continue to work on the machine. If I don't find any, we can still think of something else."

"Okay, sounds like a plan to me! Here, take this sack with you!"

Ami took the sack from Nabiki and walked out of the castle while the middle Tendo sister continued to work on the Storm Machine.

'I sure hope I'll find one,' Ami thought to herself. 'I've never flown before in my life… Whatever will my friends and family say when I tell them all of this?'


	6. In the Thieves' Den

Ami took in a deep breath as she strolled through the thicket of Saotokyo Forest. How long had it been since she had taken a walk through nature?

Back in Juuban, she had so much time on her hands when she still had been a student, only being able to meet with friends on the weekends… and only when she didn't have to study for any exams. Shortly after finishing school, she got a job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she quickly became Setsuna Meioh's personal assistant. And when Miss Meioh got appointed the new ambassador in the kingdom of Nerima, Ami joined her when she traveled to Saotokyo to take up her duties.

Ami walked along the forest's edge and looked for trees with yellow bark, since that's how Flying Agaric Trees are recognizable. But she couldn't find any, not even a single one. She only found a bush of wild raspberries, and she picked a few handfull which she stuffed into her sack, as provisions.

Ami decided to go further inside the forest. Maybe Flying Agaric Trees were growing where it's much darker and damper…

Suddenly, while she was walking through the brush, she heard a strange groan coming from above.

She looked up and saw none other than Ryoga Hibiki, stuck in a crotch, as he was just regaining consciousness.

"Who are you?" Ami asked in surprise. "How did you get up there?"

"Oooooohhh…" Ryoga groaned. "Where am I…?"

Suddenly, he realized where he was and gasped. "GAH? How did I get up here?"

"Well, I'll just assume you didn't fly up there…" Ami spoke up. "But wait, I'll help you."

She gathered some foliage and piled it up underneath the branch Ryoga was hanging from. "Now you can let go," she said.

Ryoga nodded, slipped out of the crotch… and let himself fall down into the pile of leaves with a grunt.

Ami helped him get out of the foliage while Ryoga rubbed his behind and winced.

"Are you hurt?" Ami asked in a worried tone of voice.

"No, I'm fine…" Ryoga muttered. "I'm just feeling kinda sick… Oh… dang, my head hurts…"

"Poor thing," Ami said. "Here, have a few raspberries…" She offered Ryoga the sack and he thankfully accepted a few of the fruits.

"You're really nice," he said. "Thanks for the help!"

Ami smiled. "Anytime! But say, how did you get up there in the first place?"

Ryoga winced. "I dunno… I can't remember anything at all… Say, can I have a few more of your berries?"

"Sure thing, here you go, you can have them all!"

While Ryoga was eating the rest of the raspberries, Ami asked him: "Don't you really remember how you got up there? Maybe you ate a Flying Agaric and didn't know how to get back to the ground…"

"Flying Agarics?" Ryoga wondered. "Never heard of them."

"Yeah, most people haven't heard of them… but I need one for King Ranma's birthday, you know? He's wishing for a thunderstorm, and this girl Nabiki has constructed a Storm Machine, and that's what we need the mushroom for… But sorry, I didn't want to confuse you. It's a pretty complicated story."

But Ami's words didn't confuse Ryoga at all. On the contrary, when she mentioned Ranma, he remembered how he, Akane and Kodachi had planned to steal his crown. He remembered how he had been drinking with Genma and Soun, and now he knew why he was feeling so sick. The only thing he couldn't explain was how he got stuck in that tree.

'I have to go back to the den,' he thought. 'I have to find out what happened to Akane and Kodachi…'

His head was still hurting, but he felt a bit better. "Well, thanks again for the help," he said. "It was nice talking to you and all, but I have to go now."

"It was nice meeting you," Ami smiled. "Maybe your memory will come back to you in time…"

"Maybe," Ryoga shrugged. "Okay, bye now!" And while his legs were still feeling a bit wobbly, he turned around and walked away.

Ami looked after him. 'Strange guy,' she thought. 'Wakes up in a tree and doesn't know how he got there. Oh well, I still have to find the Flying Agaric… It's already noon.'

She looked left and right and just kept walking into the forest. She didn't have to go far when she suddenly stood in front of a big tree, a tree with yellow bar.

She laughed. "Well, here's the first one! And if I'm lucky, I'll be able to find a Flying Agaric on it…"

She carefully climbed up the tree's trunks and searched thoroughly for a mushroom with red spots. But even though she looked at every single branch, she couldn't find what she was looking for.

She sighed. It just had been to good to be true… but just as she was going to climb back down, she saw something shiny dangling from the highest branch of the tree. And while the thing didn't look like a mushroom, she decided it was still worth investigating.

Ami climbed even higher until she couldn't climb any further. But when she stretched out her arm, she could touch the shiny thing. She now realized that it was a golden crown. She grabbed the crown, pulled it free… and saw the splendid specimen of a Flying Agaric from which the crown had been dangling from…

----

Akane had been the first one to wake up after the fatal encounter between the thieves and one single tree trunk… She was able to shake Kodachi half-awake, but the leader of their gang wasn't quite herself, and she had taken most of the collision's blunt. She also ccouldn't find a single trace of either Ryoga or the crown.

She was very frustrated that she had to drag the half-conscious Kodachi back to their hideout, a small den in the middle of the woods. But before she did so, she took the bike that brought them into this mess… and threw it into the near pond.

Akane stood up early in the morning and started to search for Ryoga and the crown while Kodachi was still snoozing.

While she had to admit that their coup's outcome wasn't the most graceful thing she had done in her life, she was still happy that they had been able to sneak up into the castle and steal Ranma's crown right from under his nose. So what if it was gone now?

As long as she was able to teach that pompous King Jerk a lesson, she was satisfied…

"Stupid Ranma…" she muttered as she walked back to the den. "Thinks he can just get rid of me like that… And then everyone says I could have easily asked him to stay at the castle as well! Bah! As if I need the alms of some wannabe-king! He doesn't like my cooking? He thinks I'm an uncute tomboy? Well, he can see what good all of his new MONEY and POWER will bring him…"

Still she had to laugh when she imagined Ranma's face when he opened the safe with his crown… and found the chamber pot instead.

Back in the den, Kodachi was just stirring.

"So, finally decided to get up, huh?" Akane asked as she entered the cave.

Kodachi groaned. She wanted to sit up, but she collapsed back in the hammock with a pitiful whine. It felt to her as if every bone inside her body was broken…

"I think I'm gonna die…" she mumbled.

Akane grinned. "You'll get over it! You didn't break anything, you were able to walk along with me after the accident, remember?"

"Yes, but maybe I have serious internal injuries…" the Black Rose groaned. "I can't move at all, and the pain…"

"I recall that you Kunos aren't that easy to break," Akane pointed out. "Your brother recovered from nearly every time I gave him a beating."

"Can't you show me at least a tiny bit of pity, you cruel girl?" Kodachi asked.

Akane sighed and decided to ignore her leader's wailing.

"Oh well, did you know that it's noon already?"

"What?" Kodachi asked. "How long did I sleep? Where is the crown? Did you find it?"

Akane shrugged. "Sorry, Kodachi, but I can't find it. I've been searching for two hours. I couldn't find Ryoga either…"

Suddenly, Kodachi sat up abruptly. She seemed to have forgotten all of her pain. "I knew it!" she huffed. "That porcine brute found the crown and abandoned us! I always knew we should have never trusted that ruffian… Oh, just thinking of him makes me so mad! And he always pretended to have joined us because of you… hah! I say he only came along because he hoped to steal some riches on his own! Well, if he shows his sorry face in front of me again…"

Just then, Ryoga appeared in the cave's entrance. "There you are," he said with a grin. "Hey, can you tell me what happened? I woke up in a tree…"

"What?" Kodachi snapped. "You dare show your face in my presence after what you've done?"

Ryoga looked at the two girls in confusion.

"Give me thw crown!" Kodachi yelled and fell out of her hammock. "Ow, ooowwww!"

Ryoga gulped and backed off. "I… I don't have the crown, Kodachi… seriously! I thought you'd have it… I really don't know what's going on anymore…"

"The crown, give me the crooown!" Kodachi screamed and lunged for Ryoga's throat.

"Whaaah!" Ryoga panicked. "Help me Akane, she's gone insane!"

Akane frowned at Kodachi. "Stop that!" she said in an annoyed tone of voice.

Kodachi slumped down to the ground and panted hardly. Ryoga looked over to Akane. "Akane… you believe me when I say that I don't have the crown, right?"

"Of course I do!"

"And I say he stole it!" Kodachi snapped.

"Don't be silly, he's way too dense to do something like that," Akane said.

Ryoga gave her a hurt look. Still, he said: "Thanks…"

"We had an accident," Akane explained. "We collided with a tree, on a bike - I already sank that cursed contraption to the bottom of the pond. You flew away when it happened. As well as the crown."

"Yes, yes," Ryoga nodded. "I awoke in a tree."

"Fool!" Kodachi spat. "If you hadn't drunk from the drug, we wouldn't have to use the bike."

"I admit, that was pretty dumb," Ryoga grimaced. "But I can make it up to you. You know, I heard something very interesting from Genma and your father, Akane… They told me how to reach the royal treasure room."

"Whaaaat?" Kodachi shouted. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Akane was listening intently as well.

"Well, let's see if I can remember what they said… There's a small, blue door in the courtyard, and then a corridor. Then they said something about a secret door and an underground labyrinth…"

"More, more, more!" Kodachi urged him.

"They also said the labyrinth was terrible," he added.

"Terrible, how?" Akane asked. "Trap doors, monsters, venomous snakes?"

"I dunno," Ryoga shrugged. "Just terrible. And then there is the treasure room… It has thirteen doors and thirteen security locks… Absolutely safe and secure, they said!"

"What do you say?" Kodachi asked Akane.

Akane grinned. "Doesn't sound too bad! We all know that all security locks in the world won't be enough to keep us out… I'm rather worried about the labyrinth…"

Ryoga gulped. He was thinking of his non-existant sense of direction. "Yes, me too…"

"Leave that part to me," Kodachi boasted. "I have the best sense of direction in the family!"

"Well, but how are we going to enter the castle?" Akane asked. "Getting in there a second time won't be easy, and I doubt we can trick those two fools again…"

"That reminds me of something else," Ryoga said. "I met a girl in the woods earlier. She was pretty nice… but she told me that they are celebrating Ranma's birthday, the day after tomorrow… and that they are planning to create a thunderstorm with a Storm Machine!"

"Storm Machine?" Akane sighed. "Sounds like Nabiki, all right…"

"But think about it," Kodachi said. "When Ranma-darling celebrates his birthday on that day… all of the castle's inhabitants will join the festivities, including the guards – that's the perfect chance to sneak into the castle! And while everyone else is celebrating, we'll clear out the treasure room."

"Not a bad plan," Akane smirked. "That could actually work."

She then turned to Ryoga… and gave him a hug. "I'm glad you aren't as dumb as Ranma, Ryoga!"

Ryoga swooned.


	7. The King's Madness

Kasumi was sitting in the castle's kitchen and ate one of Ukyo's famous beef okonomiyaki.

"Well, what do you say, sugar?" Ukyo asked.

Kasumi smiled. "This is the best okonomiyaki I've ever eaten in my life, Ukyo!"

Ukyo beamed. "Glad to hear it. I've tried a new sauce, ya know?"

"It's absolutely delicious," Kasumi assured the young chef as she finished the rest of her meal. "Say, what's the number of the royal bakery again?"

"Eight-eight-twelve," Ukyo said.

Kasumi walked over to the phone and dialed. Shortly afterwards, someone picked up.

"Hello there, Hiroshi-kun! Is Auntie Nodoka… I mean, Mrs. Saotome available?"

"Just a sec…" Hiroshi said. "Yo, boss?"

A moment later, Nodoka was on the phone. "Kasumi-chan! How nice of you to call."

"Good day, Auntie!" Kasumi said. "Say, I'm calling because of the cake… how is it going?"

"Oh, it's going to be absolutely marvelous," Nodoka gushed. "We've already finished baking the lower platform with the feet, and the dough for the other parts is already mixed…"

"Well, that's good to hear!" Kasumi smiled. "I knew you are an artist, auntie… I can't wait to see what the cake will look like."

"You will see," Nodoka said. "So, and how's my dear Ranma today?"

Kasumi remembered her last conversation with the king and decided not to worry Nodoka with the bad news… who knows if she was still able to create her masterpiece if she's worried about her adoptive son.

"Um, he's… he's doing fine, auntie! He's sparring, in the dojo…"

"I should have known," Nodoka said. "Well, I have to get back to work… I'll call you when the cake is finished, Kasumi-chan!"

Kasumi hung up. "Well, it seems the cake is going to be a success," she smiled. "If everything else will be a failure, at least the cake his mother and her employees are working on will be able to put a smile on Ranma's face."

"Yeah," Ukyo nodded. "But the thunderstorm… I fear that's gonna be difficult for Nabiki. It certainly will be a tough nut for her to crack."

"Don't underestimate Nabiki!" Kasumi said. "She will create the most beautiful bad weather you have ever seen, believe me! Well, I have to go now… I just have to see how Ranma is faring."

The young coiffeur left the kitchen and walked outside. When she was walking across the courtyard, she was surprised to see Ami running through the gates.

"Kasumi!" she shouted and waved. "Wait a second… I've got something to show you!"

"Ami-chan?" Kasumi wondered. "What were you doing outside the castle?"

"Here, take a look at this," Ami said and pulled the crown out of her sack.

"I don't believe it!" Kasumi gasped. "That's the royal crown! But how did you find it?"

Ami told her about Ryoga and how she found both the crown and the Flying Agaric.

Kasumi frowned. She still had no idea why in the world Ryoga of all people would want to steal Ranma's crown. "You're not hurt, are you?" she asked Ami.

Ami shook her head. "Nope, I'm fine! I may not look like it, but I'm a pretty good climber."

Realizing that Ami had no idea that Ryoga was the thief, Kasumi decided not to say anything. "Let me take the crown, I'll bring it back to the king. Please don't tell anyone you found it in the forest. Ranma doesn't know it is missing yet and I don't want to cause any unnecessary ruckus."

"Fine with me," Ami nodded and gave Kasumi the crown. While Kasumi was heading back into the castle, she walked over to Nabiki's shack.

Ami had already eaten a small piece of the Flying Agaric, and the effects were incredible: She had been able to run as fast as never before, and she had felt as if she had floated above the ground.

Nabiki, in the meantime, was almost finished with the Storm Machine. All she had to do was to attach the storage unit to the pilot box, and it also was missing some wheels.

"Nabiki!" Ami shouted and made a jump of three meters towards her friend. "I found one!"

"Really? That's great? And, is it working?"

Ami smiled. "You just saw it, didn't you?" She took the mushroom out of the sack.

Nabiki looked at the red spots. "Flying Agaric…" she murmured. "You live and learn… Okay, I'll just attach some wheels, and then we can make our first test flight. I can always attach the storage unit later."

Ami helped Nabiki with the wheels, and then everything was in place. Together, they pushed the pilot box over to the other courtyard, so Ranma wouldn't see them when he looked out of his window.

Nabiki had provided the box with two powerful engines and two big propellers that should easily be able to make the whole machine fly… if the Flying Agaric was working.

They dissected the Flying Agaric into pieces and mixed them with the normal fuel that Nabiki had already filled the engines with. Afterwards, they climbed into the pilot box. "Test flight number one!" Nabiki shouted. "Ready, Ami? Up, up and away!"

She started both engines, and with a loud humming sound, they started vibrating.

But that was really all they did. They weren't as loud as you would expect from such engines, and the pilot box didn't move an inch. Or did it? Nabiki pushed the accelerator lever forth, and the box slowly rose from the ground… but only for a short while. About one meter above the ground, it stopped and hovered in mid-air.

"I guess that's it," Nabiki sighed and pulled the lever back. The box sank to the ground and Nabiki stopped the engines.

"At least we were in the air," Ami said. "The Flying Agaric is working."

"Maybe, but it's not powerful enough," Nabiki grumbled. "Imagine we had attached the storage unit to the machine… it would have never risen from the ground. The machine is just too heavy for your mushroom."

"And what now?" Ami sighed.

"Well, I'll finish building the machine for now… maybe I can think of something while I'm working on it. You wanna help me?"

"Sure thing," Ami nodded.

hr 

Ranma was finished with his training at 15 o' clock. It helped him to distract himself from his worries, but only as long as he was in the dojo.

Now he was back in his chambers and he wondered if there was anything that could bring some color back into his life…

He lay down on his bed and started brooding.

'It's all useless…' he thought. 'Completely, utterly useless! Is it really completely useless? Yes, hopelessly useless… Totally useless, as useless as…'

Wait! There was something else! A tiny, itty-bitty gleam of hope that was invading his thoughts… Yes, there was something else! Hungry! He was feeling hungry!

Ranma took the royal bell and rang it like a madman.

Sayuri and Yuka came running right after that.

"I want everything, and I mean EVERYTHING we have to eat inside the kitchen… and I want it here, at my bed!"

Sayuri and Yuka gasped when they looked at the king's eyes. It was dreadful how much his eyes were gleaming with just a hint of insanity…

"Did you not hear what I said?" Ranma shouted, and the two maids jumped in fright. They ran out of the room, along the corridor and down to the kitchen.

"Th-the-the king wants to eat everything, really everything we have in the kitchen," Yuka stuttered. "I'm telling you, he's going insane…"

Sayuri's teeth were clattering. "I'm not going back in there…" she murmured.

"Calm down!" Kasumi said, who was just sitting there with Ukyo, drinking a cup of tea. "Of course he's hungry after he's finished with his training. You must know how big his appetite can be by now."

"Yes, but he doesn't just want to have ANY meal, he wants EVERYTHING we have," Yuka said. "I'm telling you, he's crazy!"

"Well, if it makes him happy, we'll bring him everything," Kasumi said and smiled. But inside, she didn't feel like laughing at all.

Ukyo, Kasumi and the two maids gathered all the food from the kitchen and piled it up on the four biggest trays they had. Cheese, raw eggs, bread, unboiled rice, melons, pickles, flour, cocoa, honey, herring, apples, soda, horseradish, milk, lollypops, tofu, noodles, chocolate, ketchup, mayonnaise, sausages and many, many more things were being put on top of the trays, until there was no room for anything else.

"Okay, now take a tray, everyone, and follow me!"

She took a tray and walked out of the kitchen. Ukyo, Sayuri and Yuka followed her.

Ranma was already waiting impatiently. "Food!" he said and licked his lips. "Food!"

"Where shall we put this?" Ukyo whispered.

"Just empty everything on the bed," Kasumi said, and they did so.

"We can throw the blanket to the trash when this is over, that's for sure…" Ukyo grumbled.

"Food! Food!" Ranma drooled and started to shovel chocolate and herring into his mouth, with his bare hands. This was worse than the way he usually ate.

"You can go now, I'll stay with him," Kasumi said, and the other three girls quietly left the room.

Ranma was now gobbling down peanuts with ketchup and flour. Not even Genma would eat like this…

"Ranma-kun…" Kasumi said carefully. "Don't you think this could upset your stomach?"

"Food! Food!" Ranma mumbled and stuffed a raw egg into his mouth, complete with its eggshell. He didn't even look at Kasumi.

"Ranma," Kasumi said. "You were at the dojo today, right? Don't you want to tell me how it was?"

"Food! Food!" Ranma said.

"Now, Ranma… I'm sure you must have had enough by now. What do you say we take all of this away and I'll fix your hair… see, your pigtail is a mess!"

She was right: Ranma's usually straight and tidy pigtail was coming apart, and his hair was smeared with all kinds of food.

"Food! Food! Food!" Ranma shouted and looked at Kasumi angrily. He reached for a melon and punched a hole in it, so that melon parts were flying all through his room. "Food! Food!"

Kasumi left the bed chamber. She was unbelievably sad.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Ukyo and the maids were waiting for her.

"What's he doing?" Ukyo asked.

"Eating food! Food!" Kasumi replied as she slowly walked away. But it didn't sound funny. Not at all.


	8. Rocknut Oil

The day was coming to an end. The sun hasn't vanished behind the horizon yet, but the shadows of the castle walls were growing bigger and bigger.

Ami and Nabiki had finished the Storm Machine in the meantime. It looked wondrous: The wooden box with the four wheels, the two engines with the propellers, and above the box, the big storage unit was attached to a wooden construction that was holding it in place. It was an egg-shaped structure made from aluminium, and the trumpet on its front was shimmering mysteriously.

"Well, it's done…" Ami said with satisfaction. "But it still can't fly…"

"I suppose the time we came up with a solution will be long after Ranma's birthday is over," Nabiki grumbled bitterly. "I never thought we would fail on that part… I can already see the news: 'Scandal at the Castle: Genius Inventor comes up with a Storm Machine… that can't even capture any storms, because it's unable to fly."

"It's a pity that we couldn't come up with any idea," Ami sighed.

"Look, I'll take a look at my books, maybe something in there will give me a hint…"

"Nabiki, we don't have the time," Ami protested. "We have to start tomorrow morning, or we'll never return in time for the festivities!"

"I know, I know," Nabiki sighed. "But we have no other choice. Ami, do me a favor and go down into the kitchen… ask Ukyo if she can prepare some food we can take with us on our journey. I'll find a solution, no worries!"

Ami was a bit depressed when she walked into the castle and down into the kitchen.

"Ukyo, Nabiki wants to know if you could prepare a few snacks for our journey tomorrow…"

"There's nothing left," Ukyo grumbled. "See for yourself: The kitchen and storage rooms are completely empty. Well, sorry, I know it's not your fault… I'll prepare something in a minute. I still have some bread and cheese…"

"Did something happen?" Ami asked. "Where is Kasumi?"

"Up in the tower," Ukyo explained. "Go to her, she'll explain everything to you. I'll bring the food to Nabiki when I'm finished here."

Ami went up to Kasumi's chambers.

Kasumi was lying on her soft sofa and looked up at the ceiling. She was in deep thought, and that was indeed a rare view.

"Hello, Kasumi?" Ami asked tentatively as she entered. "Say, what's wrong with everybody? Everyone is looking so grim. Did someone die or something?"

Kasumi sat up and told the blue-haired girl what happened in Ranma's bedchamber. "If he keeps this up, I'll fear the worst for him…" she whispered.

Ami sighed and looked out of the window. Those really were bad news. What was going on with the king? That couldn't be just a normal depression and boredom. Has he really gone insane?

"It all depends on how big of a success the birthday festival will be," Kasumi said. "If we manage to surprise him with our presents, I'm sure the joy he'll feel will cure him. Is the Storm Machine already finished?"

"Yes," Ami said. "It's ready! We'll start by tomorrow." She didn't tell Kasumi that they had trouble with the fuel, so she wouldn't be worried even more. "Excuse me, Kasumi, but I just noticed my hands are all dirty from the work… can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure, go ahead!" Kasumi nodded before she leaned back again with a sigh.

Ami went into Kasumi's bathroom/perfumery and washed her hands. If they only would find a solution for the fuel problem… she had the feeling as if everything was depending on her, Nabiki and their project.

'If we only had something strong and powerful we could add…' she thought to herself. 'Something that would increase the Flying Agaric's powers…'

She then took a look at Kasumi's shelf of conditioners and oils and noticed the bottle with the Rocknut Oil. It makes you feel fresh and strong, Kasumi had told her. Ami had felt it herself… maybe this was the solution!

Ami took the bottle and silently left Kasumi's chambers. The eldest Tendo sister was once again lying on her sofa, looking up at the ceiling. Ami would tell her later that she took the oil.

Nabiki was sitting in her workshop and was reading in a book. She was determined to find a solution, but sometimes it was hard to find anything if you didn't know what you were looking for…

Then Ami entered the shack. "Put the books away, Nabiki!" she said and had to suppress a grin. She would have never thought that she of all people would say this to someone. "I found the solution!"

"Oh, really? And the next thing you're gonna tell me is that Happosai has joined a monastery…"

"No, I'm serious! Here, take a look!"

Nabiki frowned when she saw the bottle in her assistant's hands. "Rocknut Oil?" she murmured. "And that's supposed to help?"

"It can't hurt to try, right?" Ami said with a big grin on her face.

Nabiki wasn't too convinced, but agreed that they had nothing to lose, so they went outside and poured the Rocknut Oil into the engines.

They entered the pilot box, Nabiki pulled the lever… and both engines came to life with loud roars. They were much louder than normal engines that size, and suddenly, the whole Storm Machine was rising into the air, higher and higher.

Nabiki was speechless. Then she grinned widely. "Ami!" She gave the blue-haired girl a massive hug. "We did it, we did it!"

Ami laughed. "Hey, stop that, you're crushing my ribs!"

Nabiki let go of her and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that… that's not my usual style. Um, you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

Ami chuckled. "Maybe…"

Nabiki took the rudder. "Okay, let's try if we can steer this thing."

She moved the rudder to the left, and the Storm Machine flew a wide arc. They left the castle behind, soared over the roofs of Saotokyo and then turned around and flew back again.

Nabiki pulled the lever into the opposite direction, and the Storm Machine's speed decreased. Slowly, the machine was descending down into the courtyard.

When they were floating past the tower, Kasumi was just looking outside the window. She looked at the Storm Machine with awe and surprise.

After they had landed behind Nabiki's shack, Kasumi came running into the courtyard. "I saw you!" she said with glee. "I saw you fly! Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Oh Nabiki, how on Earth did you do that?"

Nabiki smirked at her older sister as she climbed out of the pilot box. "With flair, a Flying Agaric and just a few drops of Rockn…"

Ami nudged Nabiki with her elbow. Kasumi wasn't supposed to know yet that they used oil from her perfumery.

"I didn't quite catch that last one…" Kasumi said. Then she smiled. "But it's okay! I'm now certain that this will be the best birthday Ranma ever had!"

Ukyo and the two maids were coming into the courtyard as well, to take a look at the machine. Ukyo gave Ami two small boxes.

"Here are your supplies," she said. She then looked at the Storm Machine with a frown. She grimaced when she saw the trumpet. "And you want to catch a thunderstorm with that thing? I wonder how you're going to make that work…"

Nabiki opened her palm with a smirk. "Give me 20.000 Nerimian Yen, and I'll tell you!"

"No thanks!" Ukyo grumbled. "I just hope you remembered to build in some brakes this time."

----

It was getting dark. Kasumi came into Ranma's bedchamber with a candle. She took a look at the king's sleeping form and sighed when she saw the chaotic mess of strewn leftovers.

She carefully picked a small noodle from Ranma's forehead. 'We'll have to clean up this mess in the morning,' she thought. 'And Ranma has to take a shower, if he likes it or not.'

----

Nabiki and Ami have taken some blankets and decided to spend the night within the pilot box of the Storm Machine. The night air wasn't too cold and they would spend some time in there. They were both very excited and tried hardly to get some sleep, as they would need all their strength for the upcoming journey. In the end, they fell asleep, as the stars above them were twinkling. The big trumpet blinked back.

----

Genma and Soun didn't sleep that night. After they had decided not to drink any sake any more, they thought of something they could do to kill time while they were on guard duty, something else than drinking and playing shogi.

In the end, Soun had found an enthralling book in the castle's library, a book titled: 'The Black Pirate'. They both took turns to read from the book, and they were so excited that they didn't get tired one bit that night…

----

Someone else wasn't getting any sleep that night… It was Shampoo, the green-furred feline! She didn't even know that it was night time, as she was still trapped inside the labyrinth. By now, she had eaten up all of the paper money she had brought with her from the treasure room, and she had explored every single corner of the labyrinth. Now she was getting hungry again and tried to find the exit to the treasure room yard. And she did find the spiral stairs that were leading back to the secret door… but the secret door was closed! And poor little Shampoo wasn't strong enough in her cat form to open it, so she spent all night scratching at the brick wall, trying to find a way to get back to her financial drug…


	9. Capturing a Thunderstorm

Nabiki awoke at three o' clock in the morning. She always was a bit grumpy after getting up and needed her cup of coffee, but this morning, there were other things on her mind.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the storage unit hanging above her head. She smiled. 'My Storm Machine…' she thought. 'My Storm Machine…'

Shortly before the sun was rising, Nabiki started the engines. With a roar, the Storm Machine rose up into the sky.

"Ami, wake up, we're starting!"

Sleepily, the girl from Juuban looked over the pilot box's edge. The fresh morning air helped her to quickly wake up, though.

From her tower chamber, Kasumi watched how the Storm Machine flew away. She waved after them. "Have a good journey, you two," she smiled.

The Storm Machine flew over Saotokyo and the forest, leaving the castle far behind them. The weather was nice for flying, the sun was shining and no cloud was visible in the sky.

Nabiki piloted her machine towards the mountain range in the far distance, as she knew that its peaks was surrounded with thunderclouds almost daily.

"How long until we reach the mountains?" Ami asked.

"Maybe one or two hours," Nabiki replied.

About one hour later, the mountain range appeared in front of them.

Nabiki gestured ahead and smirked. She pulled back the lever a bit, and the Storm Machine stopped in mid-air.

"Now that we're here, what do you say we have a little snack first?" Nabiki asked.

Ami smiled. "No complaints here! We didn't have any breakfast, you know?"

They sat down on the bottom of the box and unwrapped the sandwiches Ukyo gave them.

----

After having breakfast, they proceeded to fly towards the mountain range.

Nabiki steered the machine past the jagged rocks and through the deep chasms, until she carefully landed on the peak of a small mountain.

"What now?" Ami asked. "I don't see any thunderclouds nearby!"

"They'll come, don't you worry!" Nabiki assured her. "This area is infamous for its heavy thunderstorms. We'll just have to wait a while, that's all!"

So they waited. They waited until midday. And no thunderstorm came.

"Shouldn't we go on?" Ami asked. "We can always try another area of the mountains."

"Patience, patience!" Nabiki said and looked up into the sky. They could see all kinds of clouds, but no thunderclouds.

But then, some time later, a dark cloud came floating between the mountain tops. It was very small, though.

"See?" Nabiki grinned. "I knew we'd find one around here!"

"Well, but I doubt there's more than one lightning bolt in there," Ami said sceptically.

"One is better than none," Nabiki said.

A light breeze blew the small thundercloud in their direction. "Hey!" Nabiki shouted and waved. "Over here! Come this way!"

The cloud was very close now. Nabiki grabbed an iron bar and banged against the storage unit. "Here's the trumpet!" she yelled. "Over here!"

Ami snatched the iron bar from her grasp and threw it out of the box. "Are you crazy?" she shouted. "Don't touch any iron or you'll be hit by lightning!"

"No way!" Nabiki protested. "That was perfectly safe! The lightning wants to go into the trumpet!"

But the lightning didn't seem to be interested in the trumpet at all. Instead, it flashed out of the cloud and hit an old tree that was growing at the mountain side. A moderate thunder followed, and then the cloud dissolved into a short shower of rain.

"See what you did?" Nabiki grumbled angrily. "If you didn't stop me, we would have some lightning inside our storage unit."

"It looked kinda puny to me…" Ami murmured.

But Nabiki was disgruntled. "It was a fine lightning bolt, you hear me? See how it whooshed into that tree? It would have been a nice addition for Ranma's thunderstorm!"

"Calm down, Nabiki," Ami sighed. "Let's go where the cloud was coming from, okay? Maybe there are more of its kind. Maybe this cloud was part of a huge thunderstorm?"

Nabiki muttered something unintelligible and started the engines. The Storm Machine rose up again.

"Now don't give me that face," Ami frowned. "I only wanted to save your life, you know?"

They flew deeper into the mountains. The peaks were getting higher and higher, and the chasms deeper and darker. The sky really was turning dark now. Ami was right, there had to be a strong storm up ahead.

Suddenly, after they flew around a high peak, rain started pouring down on them. The sky was covered by black clouds and strong gusts of wind were shaking the Storm Machine around.

"We have to land somewhere!" Ami shouted. "The machine can't take such a powerful storm!"

Nabiki gritted her teeth and throttled the engines. The machines sank down into a small valley, shaking wildly.

The rain was so dense that they couldn't see a thing. Both girls were soaked by the rain and wrapped themselves in warm blankets. Further away, they heard thunder.

"We are too late…" Nabiki hissed. "The lightning must have gone down before we came. Must have been a great thunderstorm, with all that rain…"

Ami didn't say anything. She was freezing so much that her teeth were clattering.

Although the rain was stopping after some time, it was still freezing cold.

"P-p-please let us g-g-go away from here," Ami stuttered. "Or we'll catch a bad c-c-c-cold…"

"Dangit!" Nabiki grumbled. "I thought this would be a lot easier…"

She started the engines, steered the machine along the valley through which a chilly wind was blowing. Nabiki made the Storm Machine rise again and flew over the mountain tops, away from the dark clouds.

Behind the mountain range, in a short distance, she saw a high plateau with a big lake. Seeing that there were no dark clouds over there, Nabiki turned around the machine and approached the plateau.

It was getting warmer quickly as they landed next to the lake. The skies were blue and they were getting warmer from within.

Nabiki switched off the engines and sighed. The two girls climbed out of the pilot box and stretched their arms.

"One minute longer and we would have turned into popsicles…" Ami murmured.

"Yeah," Nabiki nodded. "We should have brought rain coats or umbrellas or something like that. Stupid!" And she clonked herself on the head. "Well, we have to start again very soon. It's getting late, and we still haven't caught anything.

"Let's just rest for a short while, okay?" Ami asked.

Nabiki agreed, and they hung the wet blankets to dry.

Ami lay down on the warm sand at the lakeside and was soon asleep. Nabiki decided to wake her when they had to leave and sat down next to her. But very soon, she was getting tired as well, and lay down next to her blue-haired friend.

The wind was blowing over them as they slept peacefully. But while they were sleeping, a black bank of clouds was approaching from the Southeast. It was coming closer and closer, until the whole sky was covered with thunderclouds. It was the beginning of a grand thunderstorm. It was getting very dark.

Suddenly, a single lightning bolt came thundering out of the clouds, stopped right above the lake, turned around in mid-air and flew into the trumpet.

Ami and Nabiki were startled awake.

"W-wh-what?" Ami stuttered.

Nabiki stared at the Storm Machine. "A thunderstorm! Some lightning is inside the storage unit! Look at that!"

The Storm Machine was shaking as the lightning tried to find a way out of its situation. Nabiki jumped to her feet. "Quick, the plug!"

Just in that moment, multiple lightning bolts were coming down. And they all were heading for the trumpet. One bolt after another whooshed through the air, followed by the thunder. The rumbling was deafening as it all tried to squeeze through the trumpet's opening at once.

The Storm Machine shook even more, smoke was rising from the storage unit and the trumpet was starting to smoulder.

Undaunted by death, Nabiki jumped into the pilot box and put the rubber plug into the trumpet. She quickly started the engines and flew up into the horrifying, cloud-covered sky.

Ami stood at the lakeside and watched how the machine was rising. It was so far away now that she couldn't quite see what Nabiki was doing. But it seemed to her as if she was pulling out the plug…

Five additional lightning bolts came out of the clouds and vanished inside the trumpet. The thunder was rumbling over the lake and got swallowed by the machine as well. Ami was afraid for her friend's safety when she watched how the storm was making the machine sway.

Now the rain started to pour down, and Ami couldn't see her friend anymore. "Nabiki!" she shouted and ran through the storm.

Ten minutes later, it all was over. The rain stopped and the sky was getting clearer. The sun was shining down on her again.

Where was Nabiki? Ami looked up and couldn't find any trace of the Storm Machine.

But when she looked down, she yelped when she saw how the Storm Machine was floating on the lake. Ami jumped into the water, swam over to the box and looked inside. Nabiki was lying on the bottom of the box, a huge bump on her head.

"Nabiki!" Ami shouted. "Nabiki, are you alive? Say something!"

With a groan, the middle Tendo sister opened her eyes. "Ah, Ami… I just made a crash landing, did I?"

"Yes," Ami said with relief. "But it was a good thing we made the box from wood… or else it would have sunk by now."

A dull rumbling was coming out of the storage unit. Nabiki grinned. "Well, what do you say? If that isn't a first-grade thunderstorm… Ranma will totally flip out when he sees it."

"Yes, but I think we should leave now," Ami said. "I don't know how long it will take until the machine sinks after all… the storage unit isn't exactly very light."

"You're right," Nabiki grumbled. "Ouch, my head… gimme a hand here, will ya?"

Ami helped Nabiki to her feet, and together, they started the engines. The Storm Machine rose from the lake, and they flew back through the mountains.

Very soon, the rumbling inside the Storm Machine was fading. "It's the cold air," Ami realized. "It's calming down the lightning."

Relaxed, they flew through the valleys, not being bothered by any thunderstorms any more.

"I suppose we'll be out of the mountains when it's getting dark," Nabiki said. "We'll try to find a nice place where it's not too chilly and spend the night there. We can still fly back home in the morning."

They were now flying over a wide valley that was covered with a big forest.

"You know…" Nabiki said. "Now that we made it, all of this is starting to get boring. I know that my machine is working, I never really doubted it. But when I captured the lightning up there… dang, I felt like a thunder goddess myself! It was a great feeling, I wasn't afraid at all! Even when the machine was crashing!"

Ami sweatdropped. "You can't be serious! I can tell you have been a bit afraid when you flew up there."

"No way!" Nabiki grinned. "I wasn't afraid! I'm a genius, remember! Ask Kasumi! And while Ranma is always boasting that no one can beat him, no one will be able to tell me again that my inventions won't work! Because Nabiki Tendo doesn't lose, hahahahaaah!"

"What's that?" Ami suddenly asked. "Do you hear that?"

"I hear it!" Nabiki smirked proudly. "The mighty woods beneath us are lowering their crowns in front of me! They are bowing down in front of the genius, Nabiki Tendo!"

"Bullshit!" Ami snapped, losing her patience with the young inventor. "What we're hearing is the air around us… because the engines aren't running anymore!"

Nabiki gasped. "You… you're right!"

The Storm Machine was falling down to the ground faster and faster.

"Do something, you genius!" Ami shouted.

"Mayday! Mayday!" Nabiki screamed.

Ami grabbed the reserve canisters and quickly refilled the engines. "Start them, Nabiki!" she shouted.

Nabiki turned around the lever, and the engines came to life one more time. But it was only enough to cushion their fall… it certainly wasn't enough to make the Storm Machine rise again.

The machine landed ruggedly on the forest floor.

Ami stood up on shaky feet. "Really, a great feeling if you crash…" she murmured.

Nabiki looked a bit bashful. "Well, it wasn't that great at all, I admit," she finally said. "But the Storm Machine is still in one piece. Everything I build lasts for all eternity!"

"Sure, sure," Ami sighed. "Just help me to refill the engines, okay?"

They filled the rest of the fuel into the engines and Ami added the rest of the Rocknut Oil.

Suddenly, they heard a loud howl coming out of the forest.

Ami gasped. "Ami, those are wolves! Quick, start the engines! I don't like this place at all…"

Nabiki hastily threw the switch. The engines howled almost as loud as the wolves in the forest, but the Storm Machine didn't rise one bit.

"Oh my…" Nabiki muttered in a very Kasumi moment. "You know what I think? The Flying Agaric has lost its powers."

"You think?"

Nabiki nodded. "Yes, the tanks are filled with fuel, we have enough Rocknut Oil… we should be flying if the mushroom had enough power left."

Suddenly, a pack of at least twelve grey wolves came running out of the forest. They were baring their teeth and growled dangerously at them.

But then, Nabiki proved that she really was a genius. With a quick movement, she pulled the plug out of the trumpet, and a single lightning bolt came zapping out of the Storm Machine. With a loud bang, it hit the ground, right in the middle of the wolf pack. With sharp yelps and scared whines, the wolves ran apart and headed back into the woods.

Nabiki had already closed the trumpet and grinned boastfully. Ami just stared at the smoldering spot where the lightning bolt had impacted.

"Incredible…" she murmured.

Suddenly, they heard a croaky voice coming out of the woods. "Help! Is anybody there? Help me!"

Nabiki and Ami jumped out of the pilot box and followed the voice.

"Who can that be?" Ami wondered.

Nabiki frowned. "I dunno… but somehow, that voice sounds familiar…"

They kept on walking until they reached another clearing. It was getting dark, but they clearly could see everything. Still, they couldn't believe their eyes: In the middle of the clearing, a huge Flying Agaric was standing, at least two meters tall, and on its cap, a young man with long hair and a white robe was sitting.

"Who's there?" he called. "As long as you aren't wolves, can you help me get down?"

"I don't believe it!" Nabiki shouted. "Mousse?"

The nearly-blind Amazon boy frowned. "Do I know that voice? Is that you, my darling Shampoo? Did you come to rescue me from…"

"You know him?" Ami asked.

Nabiki groaned. "Unfortunately, yes! Mousse, put on your glasses already! It's me, Nabiki!"

Mousse hesitated before he pulled out his glasses and put them on his nose. "Ah, Nabiki Tendo!" he then said. "Whatever bring you in these parts?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Nabiki replied. "But wait, let's talk later. Just slide down, and we'll catch you!"

Mousse nodded and did as he was being told. Nabiki and Ami caught him as he fell down from the tall mushroom's cap.

Ami was still a bit dazed. "A Flying Agaric…" she muttered. "A giant Flying Agaric!"

"That's right!" Mousse nodded. "That's a Flying Agaric! When you eat it, your body feels very light, but it doesn't really allows you to fly."

"Unless you mix it with fuel and Rocknut Oil!" Nabiki smirked.

"What?" Mousse shook his head. "Never mind… I don't want to hear it. Say, did you hear that loud bang just now? Sounded like thunder, but there's no cloud in the sky… Strange…"

"Well, we'll explain it to you, but now, we have to take a few pieces from that mushroom and bring it to our machine. Could you help us?"

"Only if you promise to hurry," Mousse said nervously. "I don't trust these wolves, they can be back any time."

Nabiki pulled a knife out of her pockets and cut off a few big pieces of mushroom. Together, they carried them back to the Storm Machine. Mousse was very surprised when he saw the storage unit.

"Say, what's in there?" he asked.

"Lightning!" Nabiki said. "And thunder, freshly caught!"

They laughed when they saw his confused face. Nabiki and Ami quickly put the mushroom pieces into the tanks and told Mousse to get into the pilot box.

A few minutes later, they were flying over the forest.

"We're safe here," Nabiki said. "Now we can talk." And they explained to him why they had built the Storm Machine and why they were here today.

Then Mousse started his own story, and it was a tragic one.

"After my darling Shampoo disappeared," he said. "I was devastated. I spent all days to search for her, until I got as lost as Ryoga usually does. It took me a few months to find my way back to the old gh… to Cologne! And when I returned… I realized that she was going to die."

He sniffed. "She… she never told us how weak she had grown over the past year. We have never seen her do any battles ever since Ranma became king, but we never knew she was so close to death. Well, she was already 300 years old, I guess it was just a matter of time…

Before she died, she asked me to never give up hope. She asked me to find her great-granddaughter, and if I was still in love with her, she wouldn't stop me from courting her. The only thing she wanted was to make sure that Shampoo was safe. Still, she had one last request: She wanted me to look for a very special mushroom on my search for Shampoo…"

"A Flying Agaric?" Ami asked.

Mousse shook his head. "No, this one is called the 'Lucky Mushroom'. It's color is the purest of white, and only people that are very happy can see it… for other people, it will be invisible. Whoever takes one bite of that mushroom will be blessed with incredible luck for the next few years to come. And if it is thrown into a pot of water, that water will become a potion that brings you the same luck. Cologne has been looking for it for all her life, and she wanted to take a bite of it before she left this world…"

He sighed. "But how am I supposed to find it when I'm not happy myself? I haven't been happy ever since my Shampoo was gone, and after I found out that the elder was gonna die… I haven't smiled ever since. I can't fulfil the elder's last wish… I just can't…"

Nabiki and Ami looked at each other. They pitied Mousse for what happened to him.

If they at least could do something to distract him from his sorrow…

"Say, Mousse…" Nabiki suddenly spoke up. "Since you lived with Cologne… could it be that you learned a bit about magic?"

"Well, yes…" Mousse said. "I even learned to cast a few spells… nothing too fancy… but why do you ask?"

Nabiki grinned. "That's great! You see, King Ranma has wished for a magician to show up on his birthday. Ranma was a bit depressed over the last weeks, and if you would come along and show him a few of your tricks, maybe he will feel a bit better. Come with us and stay at the castle until you feel better, then we maybe can even help you to find your Shampoo. How does that sound?"

Mousse gave her the hint of a smile. "Well, I have nothing better to do… so sure, why not? I don't blame Saotome for what happened… and I could need a bit of distraction myself."

As the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, Nabiki stopped the Storm Machine in mid-air. They covered themselves with blankets, and soon the three of them were fast asleep.


	10. The Green Cat and the Labyrinth

Ranma has locked himself within his room for the entire day. He was sitting on his bed. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep… he just brooded.

Kasumi had been looking for him several times during the day and listened if she could hear anything. But there was nothing, and she didn't dare to knock.

Now, in the evening, she was sitting in the kitchen with Ukyo, Sayuri and Yuka and was having dinner.

Suddenly, the phone was ringing. Finally, Ukyo sighed and slowly stood up. She picked off and said grumpily: "Castle Kitchen, Ukyo Kuonji speaking…"

"UKYO-CHAN!" shouted a voice that was brimming with joy. "Nodoka here! It's finished! It's finished! And it looks wonderful!"

"D-do you mean the cake?" Ukyo asked after she had recovered from the first shock. Her ears were still ringing…

"Of course," Nodoka said happily. "Is something wrong? Aren't you glad?"

"Um, sure, sure I'm glad!" Ukyo said hastily.

"Well, I can tell you, it is a master piece! The figure looks so real, I woldn't wonder if it suddenly leaves it's pedestal and starts walking around. And the fillings… delicious! Don't you and Kasumi-chan want to come down and take a look at it?"

"Um, you see, there's still so much to do, the preparations, you know?" Ukyo lied.

"Oh, that's a pity," Nodoka pouted. "Oh well, you will see it tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see what my Ranma is going to say when he sees it! Oh, and by the way, when do you want us to bring the cake?"

"I'd say early in the morning, at eight o' clock!"

"Good, I'll make sure we'll be there at the designated time. Please, give Kasumi and Nabiki my best regards! Have a nice evening, Ukyo-chan!"

"Good night!" Ukyo said and hung up. She then went back to the table. "It was Ranma's mother," she said. "They'll bring the cake at eight in the morning."

"Yes, I heard," Kasumi nodded.

Ukyo noticed how the girl that was usually so cheerful was still worried, so she asked: "Say, Kasumi… do you think Ranchan will be back to normal by tomorrow?"

"I honestly can't say," Kasumi sighed. "I think pretty much everything is possible at this point. Either he'll be happy and is cured, or he'll get another fit of rage, or maybe he'll be scared to death when he sees the statue… We just have to hope for the best."

"By the way," Ukyo said. "Do you know if Miss Meioh managed to find a nice horse for Ranma?"

"Ah, of course, the black pony… Let me call the Juuban embassy."

She walked over to the phone and dialed.

"Embassy of Juuban, good evening!" a female voice spoke up.

"Good evening, Miss Aino," Kasumi said. "Could I please talk to Miss Meioh?"

"A moment, please…"

"Setsuna Meioh here!" a gentle voice spoke up a moment later.

"Good evening, Your Excellency!" Kasumi said. "Kasumi Tendo here! I only wanted to ask if you already found a nice horse for the king…"

"Ah, just a moment, Miss Tendo…" Setsuna said on the other end of the line. "I just see the transporter has arrived… yes, they are unloading the horse… and it's black! A magnificant animal!"

"That's good to hear!" Kasumi smiled. "Please bring it up to the castle at eight o' clock in the morning. Is it strong and kind?"

"Very strong…" the embassador said and looked out of the window. Five men just tried to pull the horse down the transporter's ramp. But it bucked and kicked out with its hind legs. One of the men fell down the ramp.

"Very strong indeed," Setsuna nodded. "And as meek as a lamb!"

"Excellent!" Kasumi replied. "Okay then, see you tomorrow at eight! Have a nice evening, Miss Meioh!"

Kasumi hang up. "They got the horse! Now the only thing that's missing is Nabiki's thunderstorm. I'll go to bed now so I can get up early tomorrow. Good night, girls!"

----

At the same time, Setsuna Meioh was heading down into the yard of the embassy. The day before, she had called her superior in Juuban and asked her for a gentle, quiet horse. And now they were sending such a hooved devil…

"Figures Usagi would screw this one up…" she muttered as she looked at the scene. Various men and women were standing around the trailer. The black horse was standing up there and looked at them angrily. It was getting dark.

"Bring more lanterns!" the embassador commanded. "And throw ropes around its neck. We'll manage to subdue it in time!"

After the laterns were gathered, a few strong and courageous people were throwing the ropes around the animal's neck.

"Now, heave ho!" Setsuna shouted, and they all pulled the horse down the ramp.

Setsuna had already noticed something strange about the animal when they were pulling it down. It had been some time since she had seen a horse, but something was odd about this one…

She took a lantern and carefully approached the horse. That's right, horses didn' have such long ears. And the tail… it was completely different from a normal horse's tail! It had a tuft on its end… Could it be that…?

Setsuna carefully reached out and touched the animal's shoulder. She winced when it let out a deafening "Heeee-haaaaaw!"

"A donkey…" Setsuna muttered and watched her finger, which was coated with black paint. "A donkey, disguised as a horse…"

She let out a groan. "Dangit, Usagi… isn't there anything you WON'T screw up?"

"What shall we do with the animal?" one of her helpers asked.

Setsuna sighed. "Give him hay, oats and water. That will calm him down!"

She walked back into her office building. She knew that a scandal is about to happen when they bring the donkey to King Ranma's castle. And they will realize it sooner or later.

"But hey, I am not responsible for our ditzy president's screw-up," she shrugged. "She was the one who sent the donkey, that's what I'm gonna say. And I can say that I mistook the donkey for a horse myself. And who is going to tell if I said the truth or not?"

Satisfied, she finished her work for today and went to bed.

----

Akane, Kodachi and Ryoga had been sleeping the whole day. Kodachi in her hammock, Akane on a pile of old mattresses, and Ryoga on a sack that was stuffed with foliage.

It was getting dark when they woke up. Kodachi yawned and stretched. She didn't feel her bruises anymore.

"Ryoga, cook something!" she then ordered. "I don't want to steal Ranma-darling's treasure with an empty stomach!"

Akane frowned. "Hey, why can't I cook?"

Ryoga paled, and Kodachi chuckled. "Excuse me, Tendo, but I want to live to see my treasure stolen."

Akane sat down on the mattresses in a huff, while Ryoga walked over to their small stove. "What shall I make?" he asked. "Eggs and bacon?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, that's pretty much the only thing we have…" the fang-toothed boy said as he took the pan.

Later, they were all sitting around the small table and ate the eggs and the bacon. When she was finished, Kodachi walked over to a small alcove in the cavern's wall and pulled out a few things they would need for their raid: A long, rolled up rope with a hook, a flashlight and a rope-ladder. She then took a small case and smiled as she carried it over to her team mates.

"What's that?" Akane asked.

"Special tools," Kodachi replied with a grin. She opened the case and let the others look inside.

Akane looked disappointed. "Oh, just a few rusty old keys…"

"What, rusty keys?" Kodachi shouted in outrage. "My mother left them behind! They are the best lock picks ever created! There's no lock that can't be opened with these, you hear me? My mother created them, you see?" She closed her eyes with a dreamy sigh. "She was the one who taught me all about mixing potions, using poison and picking locks…" She giggled. "She was a kleptomaniac almost as big as that Shiratori girls… but unlike her, she was a professional!"

Akane and Ryoga looked at each other in confusion. "Um, why should your father marry a burglar?" Ryoga then asked. "He was a rich man and the principal of Akane's school, after all!"

Akane shook her head. "I knew it: All Kunos are loonies…"

Kodachi glared at her, but decided to ignore that remark for now. "My mother taught me everything!" she repeated. "She has opened safes with these beauties, safes that were as big as a house! Rusty keys… you have no idea what you are talking about, Akane Tendo!"

"All right already…" the short-haired girl grumbled. "As long as your rusty things are helping us get into the treasure room…"

Later, they were packing their things.

"Listen, comrades, I thought of something," Kodachi said. "We should start our work tonight. It would be way too risky to enter the castle in broad daylight. When we have reached the castle, we'll climb over the outer wall and have all night to find the treasure room."

"But how are we supposed to cross the moat?" Akane asked and shuddered. She still couldn't swim, after all…

Ryoga was more worried that Akane might find out about his curse when he got wet… and when she realized that he was P-chan… He gulped!

"With an inflatable boat," Kodachi explained. "I brought one back from home when I started my career as an 'outlaw'." She gestured behind her. "It's lying in the back corner of our cave. I'm only worried about the guards…"

Akane huffed. "If they still haven't hired anyone besides my father and that lazy Genma, I doubt we'll have any problems. I say we do it this way!"

"Very well then…" Kodachi grinned. "Let this raid go down in history! But first… let us drink some coffee so we won't fall asleep on the job. Ryoga, make some coffee!"

"Why not me?" Akane pouted.

----

The night was calm, and only a gentle breeze was blowing through the woods when they left the cavern. Kodachi was carrying her case with the lock picks, the flashlight and the rope ladder. Akane was carrying the rope and the empty sacks, and Ryoga was carrying the folded rubber boat.

Finally, they reached Saotokyo, tiptoed through the silent back alleys and climbed up the hill. After they had reached the castle wall, they rested for a short while.

"Ryoga, blow up the boat!" Kodachi commanded.

"I knew it…" he murmured. "I knew you'd make me do this…"

While Ryoga was blowing up the boat, the two girls looked up to the wall to se if there were any guards. The drawbridge was pulled up, and no light was coming out of the guardroom. They couldn't know that Genma and Soun had finished their pirate book hours ago and were now fast asleep. In their dreams, they were fighting evil pirates and sea monsters…

When Ryoga was finished, they put their tools into the boat and climbed in themselves. After they had reached the wall, Kodachi grabbed the rope.

She swung it around a couple of times and skillfully threw it up to the castle wall. She tested if it was secure and then climbed up gracefully.

"You go first," Akane commanded.

Ryoga was glad he could leave the boat, so there would be no risk of getting splashed into P-chan. He grabbed the rope, started climbing.

Kodachi blinked. "Where did he go?" she hissed.

Akane was speechless. Just seconds ago, Ryoga had been climbing up the rope, then she had to sneeze… and when she looked up again, he was gone.

"No…" she groaned. "Not now…"

Kodachi looked around… and gasped when she saw Ryoga standing on the castle wall, but on the other side of the castle. She was on the Eastern Wall… and Ryoga on the Western Wall.

"How on Earth did he get there?" she murmured. Akane climbed up next to her and sighed. "Figures Ryoga would get lost some time during our mission… but at least he's still here, and not somewhere in Juuban or even in Antarctica… Let's get that fool before he's gone again."

They descended the stairs and entered the courtyard. They carefully snuck around until they were standing in front of the Western Wall.

"Ryoga!" Akane hissed. "Down here!"

Ryoga turned around in confusion. "Akane? Dang, I was wondering where you went…"

"Never mind that now! Come down here!"

Ryoga nodded and jumped down to them. Kodachi and Akane let out sighs of relief… they had amost expected him to get lost on his way down…

"Let's get going!" Kodachi whispered. "This is no pleasure cruise, you know?"

They walked along the wall. Kodachi switched the flashlight on… There it was, the small, blue door!

She was just going to open her lock pick case, when Akane simply opened the door.

Kodachi frowned. "How careless of them…"

They entered and closed the door behind them. They reached the long corridor and the brick wall at its end.

"Everything is just like Mr. Saotome and Mr. Tendo have told me, up to now," Ryoga said. "And behind this wall, the 'terrible' labyrinth is supposed to be…"

"Well, where is the secret door?" Akane asked. "I don't see a door!"

Kodachi laughed. "Of course not, you fool! It's secret!" She knelt down in front of the wall and knocked a couple of times. That didn't help. She then used the flashlight and looked into every single chink between the bricks.

Akane was getting impatient. "That doesn't help! Gimme that thing!" She looked at the wall herself and angrily punched it.

Kodachi smirked when she saw how Akane was rubbing her hurt hand. "Not every problem can be solved with brutish strength, you barbarian!"

Akane was angry. „Well, where is your secret door?" she asked Ryoga.

The eternally lost boy shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Oh, that's it!" Akane griped. "Go and search that door yourself!" And she grabbed Ryoga and shoved him against the wall.

Ryoga grunted when his shoulder collided with the wall. He had hit the fifth brick from the right, in the sixth row from the ground.

The secret door opened.

The three thieves stared at the entrance of the labyrinth in disbelief.

Kodachi laughed gleefully and Akane gave Ryoga a smirk. "Well, you're good for something at times, Ryoga!"

Ryoga stood up and rubbed his shoulder. He had never been angry at Akane once in his life, but now he gave her an annoyed frown.

Kodachi was walking into the dark corridor behind the secret door. "Come, my comrades!" she shouted. "Treasure and glory await!"

Ryoga and Akane followed her. When they reached the first intersection, Kodachi simply walked right.

"Hey, Kodachi!" Akane shouted. "How do you know this is the right way?"

"Didn't I tell you my mother was a skilled burglar?" Kodachi grinned. "It's in my blood! I have a much better sense of direction than your little, fang-toothed friend! I can feel it, the treasure room is just down that way! Only around that corner! Come along!"

Akane and Ryoga looked at each other sceptically, but followed their leader nonetheless.

After they had walked around like that for about half an hour, Akane suddenly stopped. "The treasure room is just down that way, huh?" she grumbled. "Just around that corner, eh? We have passed a big amount of corners, admit it already, we're lost!"

Ryoga nodded with a sigh. "A great feeling, isn't it?"

Kodachi gritted her teeth, but didn't reply.

Akane snatched the lamp from her. "Gimme that! I'm sick of this, I want to get out of here!"

And then she was leading.

----

Shampoo the cat might have found the spiral stairs that were leading back to the treasure room by now, but she still couldn't enter the secret door. She had been scratching at the wall for hours, but to no avail. She was getting very hungry by now, and she almost believed she could smell the paper money that was lying behind the secret door, and behind the thirteen locked doors of the treasure room.

Plagued by hunger and madness, she had been running through the labyrinth for a long time, came back to the brick wall and sniffed. Yeeees, she could smell it, her drug… she needed it so badly!

She was once again running through the corridors of the labyrinth, still hoping to find another exit, although she now knew all corners and caverns by heart now. The only thought she was having was money food.

And then, she heard something… the footsteps of three people.

Shampoo sniffed. Did they have money with them? No… but she knew those smells.

"Violent girl, lost boy and crazy rose girl?" she murmured. "Where they come from?"

She decided to go after them. With Ryoga around, they had to be lost, but if she helped them, they maybe would help her get out of here…

----

The three thieves were at their wit's end. They were tired and hopeless. The feeling of being lost increased with every step, and Ryoga was the only one who didn't look too depressed.

"How come you just take your situation like that?" Akane grunted.

Ryoga shrugged. "Story of my life… I'm used to it, I think!"

"I can't go on anymore," Akane groaned and sat down on the floor. "I can't take this anymore! It's as if we were walking around in circles… Don't you have any idea, Ryoga? And what about you, 'Black Rose'? Whatever happened to your 'inpeccable' sense of direction?"

Kodachi grimaced, but didn't say anything. She slumped down as well.

"This isn't how it's supposed to be…" she murmured. "I was hoping I could finally use my mother's heritage… but now we can't even get out of this labyrinth. I was hoping… I could at least pick one lock this night…"

"If Rose Girl wants to pick lock, Shampoo can show her one!" a voice came out of the darkness.

They stared in disbelief at the pair of shining, green eyes that were approaching them.

Then the green-furred cat stood in front of them and Akane gasped. "Shampoo?" she shouted. "What the heck happened to you?"


	11. The Thirteen Locks

Shampoo looked at Akane with her shining, emerald eyes. "Is of no concern," she said. "Let's say Shampoo has had… financial problem."

Akane was wondering how having financial problems could cause her cat form to grow green fur, but before she could say anything else, Kodachi spoke up:

"How in the world is that cat able to talk? Is that some sort of trick? Or are you a demon?"

Shampoo and the others groaned inwardly. Kodachi and her family were the only residents of the kingdom that had never known about the Jusenkyo curses, so she always had a hard time to accept that the 'red-haired trollop' her brother was constantly going after, was also her beloved Ranma.

"No matter! You said you want to pick lock? Come with Shampoo, and she shows you many locks to pick!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryoga asked in confusion.

The cat seemed to smirk at him. "Treasure Room!"

Now that caught the attention of everyone. "You really could help us get there?" Akane asked hopefully. "But… how do we get out of this labyrinth?"

"Violent girl no worry, Shampoo knows every corner of labyrinth. Has been trapped here for days. Shampoo helps you finding way out, you help Shampoo leave labyrinth. Is good deal, no?"

The three thieves had to agree to that, and even Kodachi decided that a deal with the devil himself would be worth it, if she could steal the king's treasure.

Shampoo led them through the darkness, and Ryoga tried hardly not to fall back, as he knew that he would be lost for all eternity if he would lose them now.

Finally, they reached the spiral stairs and the brick wall.

Shampoo gestured at the wall with her paw. "This is it," she said. "Behind this is treasure room!"

"Good, good…" Kodachi murmured as she licked her lips. She carefully tried pushing the various bricks, until she found the right one. The secret door opened, and fresh night air came blowing into their faces. Akane let out a cheer of joy, Ryoga gave off a sigh of relief and Kodachi took a deep breath of fresh air.

Shampoo ran over to the treasure room building that was situated in the middle of the yard. She sniffed at the first door. Yes, in there, she could smell the paper money, her life elixir, her drug… She needed it sooo badly!

She had realized that Akane, Kodachi and Ryoga were here to plunder Ranma's treasure room. Kodachi was able to open every door, she had proved that. She would open these doors as well… and then? Then they would leave with the treasure, taking the paper money with them. 'I have to stay close to them,' Shampoo realized. 'I have to make sure they are dependent on my help again…'

Kodachi came over to her. "So, this is the treasure room!" she said with satisfaction. "Now I can put my mother's keys to use… And you, feline demon, you can go back into your den! We don't need you anymore!"

"No!" Shampoo insisted. "Shampoo helped you, so she wants her part of treasure."

"What's a cat supposed to do with a treasure?" Kodachi chuckled. "Go away and catch a few mice!"

Shampoo let out a giggling mew. "You still have to go through labyrinth," she said. "But if you know way, I can leave…" And she turned around to go.

"No, stay!" Kodachi said hastily.

"One quarter of treasure!" Shampoo demanded as she looked back at the pony-tailed thief. "Shampoo wants the paper money!"

Kodachi grimaced, but she knew that they would need the feline's help to get back through the labyrinth.

'But just you wait…' she thought. 'As soon as we're out of the castle…' And she grinned.

"Agreed, Miss Cat!" And she even gave Shampoo a short bow.

'She wants to pull a fast one on me,' Shampoo thought. 'But just you wait… as soon as we're out of the castle…' And she gave Kodachi her sweetest feline grin.

After taking a good look at lock number one, Kodachi opened the case with her lock picks. She tried not to think about the cat and the treasure for a while. Everything that was important now were keys and locks. She shook her hands to relax.

She carefully took one of her lock picks out of the case, put it into the lock, turned it around…

With a click, the door opened.

"Great job!" Akane cheered.

Kodachi didn't even look at her. She took her case and walked over to the second door. Akane and Shampoo followed her. Shampoo took a deep breath… one step closer to her financial drug!

Kodachi used the flashlight to have a better look at the lock, grabbed another key, turned it around, it clicked… and the door opened.

Next door, same procedure.

It went on like this up to door number nine. Flashlight, lock pick, click, open! Kodachi started to get bored. She was a bit disappointed, as she had hoped that the creator of these locks would have put a bit more thought behind his work.

When she looked at the tenth door, she frowned. That one looked quite different. She studied the mechanism inside. Not bad, not bad. This was a pretty good lock, and any normal thief would have never opened it.

But Kodachi was no normal thief, she had studied under the best!

She searched through her lock picks until she found a long one whose end was strangely entwined. She put it into the lock, hesitated for a while, moved it to the left a bit, felt some resistance and listened intently. She then turned the key around hardly, and the door opened.

She gave her fellow team mates a proud grin. Not bad, not a big challenge for her.

"Hurry up, Kodachi!" Akane said impatiently. Shampoo's tongue was hanging out of her muzzle.

Lock Number Eleven! Kodachi couldn't wait to see whatever the mysterious locksmith had in mind when making this one.

She looked into the lock, and her heart beat increased. What she was looking at was a masterpiece of work, a lock that not many could pick. There were very few people who could create such a fine piece of art.

Now the fun was beginning!

She put the flashlight to the side. It was no use to try and find out the lock's mechanism by looking. She had to rely on her feelings and her hearing. She took a lock pick that was especially old and rusty.

She could hear her mother's voice: "When you have a master's lock in front of you, take this lock pick, Kodachi! But you have to understand that like any others, this key is just a tool. You have talent! Now we will train your skills so that one day, you can open such locks…"

Opening locks was her mother's specialty, just as Kodachi's specialty had mainly been mixing powders and potions. But now she was stepping in her mother's shoes…

Kodachi carefully slipped the Master Key into the lock. She closed her eyes and concentrated. By moving the tip of the key just slightly to the left and right, she explored the depths of the lock. Yes, this was a labyrinth by itself, a labyrinth of studs and springs and whatever…

But Kodachi did it! As she placed the Master Key in the crucial position, she held her breath and tilted it to the right, very slightly… For a short while, she feared that she had failed… but then the door opened! An incredible feeling of joy filled her heart!

"Hurry, Kodachi!" Akane said. "The sun is already rising. How many doors are left?"

"Two…" Shampoo muttered as her whiskers were twitching. "Two, two!

Kodachi sat down in front of the 12th door. She sighed, massaged her wrists and got to work. She looked at the lock… and whatever she saw almost made her swoon. Once again, she could hear her mother's voice…

"You have learned how to open a real master's lock over the past few months, Kodachi! You have done very well! You are now a master thief, almost as good as I was, back in my days… But now listen to me, my girl… If you believe that those master locks are the most difficult and elaborate locks that exist, think again! There is a kind of lock that is far above the master locks… Those are absolutely burglar-proof locks, so-called DEVIL'S HOLES. In my whole life, I had one such lock in front of me… And I must admit, I failed! So if you happen to come across such a thing, pack your things and run away, as there is no way anyone can open these contraptions! You'll recognize them as they are the only locks in existence that are shaped like a heptagon!"

Kodachi was kneeling in front of the door. She shivered as she looked at the lock in front of her. The Devil's Hole seemed to grin at her. She looked at it until she was as cool and still on the inside as the lock itself.

"What's going on?" Akane asked. "Have you fallen asleep?"

"Money! Money!" Shampoo panted.

"Step back, five meters at least!" Kodachi commanded. "Come back when I tell you, not earlier!"

Akane had never heard Kodachi speaking in such a serious tone of voice, so she obeyed without questioning it. Shampoo followed her.

Kodachi took the Master Key and put it into the hole, although she knew this was pointless. She had the feeling as if she had put a broad iron bar into the lock, that's how fine it's insides were. When she wanted to pull it back, she heard a loud SNAP coming from the inside. The key was shaking wildly and when Kodachi pulled it out she saw that it was completely bent.

She gulped and dropped the key. She searched for the smallest, finest lock pick she could find, not bigger than a hairpin, and put it into the lock.

No snapping Kodachi moved the lock pick to the left and the right, but he didn't feel anything. She pulled it back out… and saw that its tip was missing! It looked like it was bit off!

"Just you wait…" Kodachi grumbled. "I'll get you yet…"

She took a long, thin wire out of her case. She bent its tip just slightly and inserted it into the hole. She now could feel every single part of the lock's inside. But it didn't help her much, as it was so complicated that she couldn't picture it in her mind.

TWWWAAAAAAANNNNNGGG!

The wire got yanked out of Kodachi's hands. It vanished inside the lock, swallowed by the Devil's Hole! Kodachi shuddered.

And suddenly, she had an idea… An unusual, bold idea!

She jumped to her feet and walked over to Akane. "Akane!" she said. "Where do your finest hairs grow?"

"WHAT?" Akane asked. "What are you talking about??"

"I know… bend over…" And she yanked a short, blue hair from the nape of Akane's neck.

She frowned. "It's too short, dangit…"

"Are you crazy?" Akane asked with disbelief. "What are you doing? Searching for fleas? What about the door?"

Kodachi didn't say anything. She looked down at Shampoo, who was sitting on her haunches. The green-furred cat tilted her head in confusion as the Black Rose approached her.

"Hold still…" she muttered. "Don't worry, I'm not hurting you…"

Akane watched how Kodachi was petting the cat. Now she knew their leader has lost her mind…

Shampoo giggled. "That tickles…"

Suddenly Kodachi pulled it out and raised it above her head: A long, green hair that she had yanked out of Shampoo's fur.

"Kodachi…" Akane murmured with sudden worry. "Are you feeling fine?"

Kodachi ignored her and ran over to the Devil's Hole. She inserted the fine hair into the lock as deep as possible, until she felt a tiny bit of resistance… As soon as that point was reached, the lock rattled, and when it was over, Kodachi gave the door a slight push… and it opened up!

Akane stared at her. "Did you… did you just do that… with a cat's hair?"

Kodachi laughed. "You said it, Tendo! This is the most glorious day in my life! I have just vanquished a Devil's Hole, Akane! A DEVIL'S HOLE! Do you know what that means? No, I don't think you would… This is so exciting! I think the real key for this lock must have a very thin tip, so thin that it's almost invisible to the eye…"

"Okay, okay," Akane said. "Then take your cat's hair and please open the last lock, I want to get out of here before the festivities are starting, you hear?"

"Consider it done!" Kodachi said with a big grin. She took her case and walked over to the last door.

It wasn't a Devil's Hole, she saw that at the first glance. It looked like a normal lock. She inserted the hair and turned it around, and nothing happened. Oh well, she had expected that. This was a normal keyhole, which could never be opened with a hair.

She took a bland-looking lock pick and inserted it into the hole. She turned it around… and felt nothing! She didn't feel any resistance at all. Strange.

She took a thicker lock pick who looked like a small can opener and tried it out… once again, she felt nothing. It was as if she had put the lock pick into a normal hole.

Kodachi squinted her eyes. She realized that this was something serious, but it was too early to make assumptions. She grabbed the Master Key and put in into the lock. She turned it around – nothing!

She started to realize that this hole might very well be something much more devilish than a Devil's Hole. She tried imagining the creator of this lock, she hated and admired him at the same time.

She sighed. What was the idea behind this lock? She had no clue.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked. "Do you need another cat's hair?"

"I have to think," Kodachi groaned. "This lock is too much…"

"Oh? And how long to you think will that take?"

As Kodachi didn't reply, Akane gave off an angry snort. "I've had enough! I want to see the treasure!"

"Yes, the treasure…" Shampoo moaned. Her four legs felt all shaky.

"Hey, Ryooogaaaaa!" Akane shouted and ran back outside.

She found Ryoga sitting in the yard, leaning against the wall. He had taken a short nap.

"Ryoga, wake up! We need you!"

"What's going on?" he yawned. "Did you open all the doors?"

"Not yet, but we need your help! Come on!"

She led him to the final door. "Use the Bakusai Tenketsu!"

Ryoga blinked. "Um, sure!"

Kodachi jumped to her feet. "No, you can't do that!" She stepped in Ryoga's way.

Akane held her back. "This has gone far too long, Kodachi! We should have done that much earlier!"

"That lock is too important for me," Kodachi yelled as she struggled against Akane's grip. "It is invaluable! I have to pit my intelligence against it! Ryoga, I beg you: Leave that door intact!"

"Do it, Ryoga!" Akane commanded as she pulled Kodachi outside. Shampoo, who knew the effects of the Bakusai Tenketsu all too well, was already running outside.

Ryoga raised his finger. "Bakusai Ten…"

"NOOOOOOO!!!" Kodachi yelled, broke free and pushed Akane back. She then ran over to Ryoga was standing, grabbed his waist and hurled him away from the door.

"…ketsu…" Ryoga finished his sentence dizzily.

He landed between the fifth and sixth door when the floor and walls all around him seemed to explode. Rocks and pebbles were being flung in all directions as the ceiling came crashing down. Kodachi shielded her eyes as the resulting shockwave made her stumble backwards, against the thirteenth door… which opened up.

Kodachi stumbled backwards and fell into the pile of diamonds.

For a short while, she just lay there and blinked.

A huge cloud of dust was covering everything. Kodachi coughed. Finally, she stood up and looked at the door from all sides. She put her finger into the door, pulled it out again and laughed out loud.

That was too much indeed! The mystery behind all mysteries was that there was no mystery! The keyhole was a hole, nothing more, nothing less! The door had been open all the time!

Akane, Ryoga and Shampoo searched for a way through the rubble.

"Kodachi, are you still alive?" Akane shouted.

Coughing, they crawled through the thirteenth door and saw the treasure lying in front of their eyes.


	12. Ranma's Birthday

Nabiki had started the engines of the Storm Machine before the sun was rising. Ami and Mousse were rubbing their eyes sleepily as the machine flew out of the mountain area.

The morning air was pretty chilly, but they were all pretty content, as they were looking forward to the festivities, even Mousse, who had not many chances to laugh in recent times.

As they flew over the plains and fields, the sun was rising. It was a very pleasant morning.

"Don't be mad," Mousse spoke up. "But Saotome must be really screwed in the head if he prefers a thunderstorm over this wonderful weather…"

"That's a matter of taste," Nabiki said. "A raging thunderstorm can be a nice thing too, if you take enough safety precautions. I'm looking forward to that storm! It'll be a storm that generations to come will talk about!"

"Maybe that's because it's your Storm Machine who will release it," Ami smirked.

Nabiki smiled up at the storage unit and patted it lovingly.

Then she pulled back her hand. "Ow!"

"What's wrong?" Ami asked.

"The storage unit… it's hot!" Nabiki said. "I have the feeling the lightning is getting active again, now that we left the cold mountains behind… This is going to be ticklish…"

And a deep rumbling came out of the storage unit above their heads.

Mousse looked up at it in worry. "Let's just hope that thing won't explode…" he murmured. "The wolves have mauled me enough…"

Ami gulped. "If the Storm Machine explodes, you probably won't have to worried about being mauled anymore…"

Nabiki increased speed. They had to reach Saotokyo quickly and release the storm, or else things would get ugly.

The lightning was getting more and more erratic. The rumbling was getting worse and the machine was starting to smoulder. It reeked of charred rubber.

"Nabiki!" Ami screamed. "Release a bit of lightning, or it will explode!"

But Nabiki shook her head. "Not yet!" she shouted back. "Only when we have reached the castle!"

Mousse gave Ami a quick nudge and gestured behind them. Ami gasped when she saw the enormous bank of clouds that was approaching them from behind. It seemed as if the clouds were attracted by the imprisoned lightning and the huge trumpet. It looked very frightening.

When the castle and Saotokyo appeared, the whole storage unit was glowing. All of the western sky was darkened by the black clouds that were following the Storm Machine.

It was almost eight o'clock!

----

Kasumi woke up in the early morning when she heard the explosion in the treasure room. The first thing that came to her mind was: Nabiki and Ami are coming with the thunderstorm!

But when she looked out of her window, she could see no trace of any storm or the Storm Machine itself. But where did the thunder come from? Was she just dreaming?

She went down into the kitchen and had breakfast with Ukyo, then she went up to see how Ranma was faring this morning. But the door to his room was still locked.

"Well, that's going to be some birthday, with out the birthday boy…" she murmured.

She took a look at the clock hanging at the wall: It was 9:50! Auntie Nodoka and her helpers from the bakery should be here any time.

Kasumi ran up to her chambers in the tower and took a pair of binoculars. And indeed, she could see the huge cake they were bringing. It was standing on the broad loading space of a truck that was driving up the hill. Kasumi could see Nodoka as she was running around, giving instructions and making sure that the transport was a success.

The cake really looked dazzling. It looked like… Well, it looked like Ranma himself! A huge, pig-tailed martial artist was coming up the hill. Kasumi was hoping that it would fit through the main gate…

Behind the truck, a delegation of Juuban was walking, led by the ambassador, Setsuna Meioh. They were leading a magnificent, black horse. And behind them… yes, a long procession of men and women, children and adults was coming after them. Almost all residents of Saotokyo and many more people from Nerima, Juuban and other countries were approaching the castle.

Kasumi sighed. 'Look at this, Ranma-kun…' she thought. 'They all have come to wish you a happy birthday… They all like you, they all want to make you happy! Isn't that view enough to make you cheer? Long live King Ranma the First! Hip hip hooray!'

While Kasumi was daydreaming, she almost didn't notice the dark clouds that were approaching the castle from the west. She only noticed it when everyone in the procession suddenly stopped and looked up into the skies. And it was getting dark, very dark.

She frowned. "Now what's going on?" She aimed her binoculars to the west and saw the clouds that were approaching the castle. That must be Nabiki's thunderstorm. But where was the Storm Machine? She looked closer and suddenly saw it. But… the machine was smoking and glowing and swaying… It looked as if it would crash any minute.

Kasumi tried to see any more, but it was just too dark, and they were too far away…

----

Ami and Mousse were cowering in one corner of the pilot box. The storage unit was getting unbearably hot.

"Nabiki!" Ami yelled again and again. "Let out some thunder or we'll all die!"

But Nabiki didn't listen. She just stared at their goal and didn't even notice that her hair was starting to get singed.

Finally, they were above the castle. Nabiki yelled loudly and yanked the plug out of the storage unit. The trumpet howled and the first lightning bolt zapped outside. It was followed by a deafening thunder. Then the next bolt came, followed by the next, and the next. One lightning bolt after another came shooting out of the machine. After the fourth bolt had left the machine, the trumpet started to melt. It turned into liquid metal and dropped down to earth. Now that the opening was even bigger, even more lightning came shooting out at once. Nabiki was thrown into the corner to Ami and Mousse. They had to cover their ears from the noise the thunder was making.

Just as they were floating thirty meters above the castle, the storage unit began to come apart. It detached from the pilot box and its burning components were crashing down all around them.

The pilot box crashed into the crown of the tree growing next to Nabiki's little shack in the courtyard, and Ami, Nabiki and Mousse fell down to the hard ground, but at least they weren't injured.

Then it started raining. And while the water masses were pouring down all around them, Ami had to silently agree with what Nabiki had said: Never before had the kingdom of Nerima witnessed such a thunderstorm.

----

As soon as the first lightning and thunder came crashing down, most of the people that made up the festival procession had fled to town. Most of them managed to reach their houses when the rain started to fall.

The huge Ranma Cake was standing in front of the main gate, all by itself, and looked at the castle with a stern look.

----

Genma and Soun were asleep during all of this. Their dreams were filled with pirate adventures all night, and when they were suddenly jolted awake by the rumbling thunder, they believed that the noise was coming from an attacking pirate ship.

"Wh-wh-what?" Soun murmured.

"We're under attack!" Genma shouted. Together, and still a bit dazed, they ran over to where the huge, old and rusty cannon was standing. Soun loaded the cannon quickly and they pushed it over to the chute.

Then Genma fired it… Lightning, Thunder, and the roar of the cannon… it sounded just like during a fierce battle on the open sea.

The cannon shot hit the huge Ranma Cake right in the middle of its chest. The cake bursted asunder in thousands of pieces as Soun's and Genma's cheers of joy echoed through the storm.

Kasumi was able to witness everything from her window. Half dazed she walked over to the nearest chair and collapsed on it.

----

Meanwhile, the thieves in the Treasure Room had been bathing in gold, jewels and pearls while Shampoo had – in secret – gobbled down a big amount of paper money.

Kodachi stood up with a satisfied grin. As much fun as that had been… now they had to take care of more important matters.

"Put everything into the sacks, we have to finally get out of here!"

Then they heard the thunder from outside.

"What was that?" Akane asked in surprise.

"That must be the thunderstorm your father was talking about," Ryoga said.

Kodachi grinned. "Excellent! That will be the perfect cover to escape! Hurry up and let's get out of here!"

They put everything into the sacks, six sacks stuffed to their utmost capacity.

Kodachi grabbed one. "Everyone, take two sacks and follow the cat!"

Shampoo had already run ahead. "Follow Shampoo!" she shouted. "She lead you through labyrinth!"

Akane was the last to leave the treasure room. Before she followed her companions, she suddenly saw a tiny chest standing in a corner of the room. She knew that those were the most personal things Ranma had collected over the years, and that it would probably grievous for him if they were missing.

She pondered it for a while. This was her chance to pay every rude thing he had called her back…

But then she gave the small chest a final look, shrugged and ran after her team mates.

They managed to reach the entrance of the labyrinth, before they got soaked. They hurried not to lose sight of Shampoo, who was leading them inside.

----

After they had fired the cannon, Genma and Soun's valor wasn't satisfied. They opened the drawbridge, ran out into the rain and charged at the remains of the horrible sea creature they had defeated with their shot. With powerful punches and kicks, they reduced it to even smaller pieces.

Could you possibly think of greater heroes than Genma and Soun?

No, I thought so…

----

Shampoo lead the thieves through the labyrinth. They slipped through the secret door and reached the courtyard. A quick glance told them that nobody was around. It still was raining heavily, and on top of that, the drawbridge was open. Kodachi had almost screamed with joy.

Nobody was hindering them when they ran out of the castle, down the steep hill and into Saotokyo Forest.

At the edge of the forest, where the river was flowing, they had to take a short break, the sacks were just too heavy for their shoulders.

They put them down and let out sighs of relief.

Kodachi opened a sack and looked at the shining coins. "Glorious…" she murmured. "Absolutely glorious! Akane, Ryoga… I tell you, there is nothing more befitting for a queen than those riches! Oh, take a look at those golden coins! I could die from happiness!"

Akane just gave her a silly grin.

Shampoo had also approached one of the sacks, opened it and took out a bunch of paper money.

"Hey!" Kodachi shouted. "What are you doing?"

The green cat gave her a sly sneer… and bit into the money!

"Are you INSANE?" the Black Rose screeched. "You can't just eat all that money, you mindless beast!"

Shampoo giggled. "What you think how Shampoo turn this green? Only because of too too tasty money! Money is tasty! You want a bit?" And she offered Kodachi a note.

Kodachi snatched it out of her paw. "Give that back! Give it to me! All of it!"

"Is mine!" Shampoo hissed as she stood in front of the two sacks with paper money. "We had deal, remember? Shampoo help you, so this belongs to her!"

"You can't do that, you horrible creature! How are you going to carry all of this by yourself?"

"Shampoo just have to wait for hot water! You not take it away from her!"

"Oh, really?" Kodachi sneered and reached for the sacks. Quickly, she had put every single one behind her. "Let's see you taking them away now!"

Shampoo was furious. But then… she had an idea!

"If Shampoo no take treasure, you no take treasure!" she screeched, ran at Kodachi, quickly jumped past her legs… and slashed at the sacks with her sharp claws.

The sacks ripped open, and all of the coins, diamonds and other treasures fell down into the strong current of the river.

"NOOOOOO!" Kodachi yelled and dove for her riches. "MY TREASURE!"

But it was too late. Every coin, every jewel was already swept away by the current.

Kodachi yelled in frustration and gave the green feline a murderous glare.

But Shampoo just grinned at her… and vanished inside the forest with a mad cackle. A long-lasting, mewing cackle. In her darkest dreams, Kodachi would hear that laugh…

"Well, that was that," Akane said and broke out in laughter.

"You're laughing? YOU'RE LAUGHING?" Kodachi screamed and bombarded Akane with wet chunks of earth.

Akane kept on laughing as she ducked under Kodachi's projectiles. "Oh, that's just too rich! Wasn't it you who wanted to let the cat lead us through the labyrinth? Bwahahahahahahaaaah…"

She decided to leave Kodachi behind. She walked back to their den. Kodachi would get over it pretty soon. So the treasure was gone? Who cares? What was important to her was that she finally realized how stupid it was to get back at Ranma for things that were things of the past…

She suddenly realized something. "Say… where's Ryoga?"

----

A small piglet was meekly trotting down the hill of Saotokyo Castle as it got soaked by the rain. Ryoga got turned into his cursed form as soon as he stepped out of the labyrinth and into the rain. The others never had noticed that he was missing, and he also had to drop the two sacks he was carrying.

He wondered if becoming a member of Kodachi's gang had been the right thing to do, even if Akane had done the same thing.

Just like Akane, he wasn't as angry with Ranma anymore as he used to be. He didn't go after him with yells of 'Ranma! Prepare to die!' He just wanted to leave in peace, together with Akane, if that was possible.

As soon as he reached the woods as well, he made a decision: He wouldn't take this abuse from Kodachi any longer! He would leave her gang tonight!

----

In the late afternoon, it had stopped raining. The residents of Saotokyo were back on the castle hill. They looked at the remains of the Storm Machine, wondered what happened and worried about both King Ranma and the pilots of the machine itself.

Nodoka and her helpers were standing around the remains of the cake and were weeping. Miss Meioh and her followers were looking for their donkey that had escaped when it started thundering.

Genma and Soun had locked themselves into their guardroom. They were ashamed for what they had done and they knew they could never forgive themselves for what they had done to the cake Nodoka had created. Genma shivered when he thought of her katana…

Only very few people knew that the treasure room had been robbed. Kasumi had found the remaining two sacks with gold and jewels, as well as the rope-ladder and the inflatable boat. The pilots of the Storm Machine were fine, they didn't get hurt when they had crashed.

Kasumi, Nabiki, Ukyo, Ami and Mousse were standing in front of Ranma's bedroom. Kasumi knocked. "Ranma, this is Kasumi! Are you there? Please answer me!"

But no one answered.

"Ranma, are you okay? We are worried about you, please answer me!"

"Try it again," Ukyo told her.

"Look at that!" Ami suddenly said and gestured at the ground.

A small piece of paper was being pushed underneath the door.

'I'm fine!' was written on it.

"Whew, what a relief!" Ukyo sighed. "Ask him if he's hungry!"

"Yes, and if he liked the thunderstorm," Nabiki added.

"Ranma, are you hungry?" Kasumi asked. "Did you like the thunderstorm? Nabiki and a girl from Juuban made it, with a Storm Machine!"

They all looked at the door until the next not appeared. They read: 'Not hungry. Storm was nice. Thanks, Nabiki!'

"Well, he could have written a bit more…" Nabiki pouted.

"Why is he writing at all?" Mousse asked. "Has he lost his voice?"

"Ranma, have you lost your voice?" Kasumi asked with worry.

'No.' the third note read.

"Then why isn't he talking to us?" Mousse wondered.

"How should I know?" Kasumi sighed. "Ranma, we also had a nice cake, but I'm afraid it got destroyed… It was marvelous! Do you want to know what it looked like?"

"Why ask him that?" Ukyo wondered. "Tell him that his treasure got stolen, maybe he'll come out and starts to yell at everyone. I'd like that better than this silly note-writing…"

"Ranma," Kasumi said. "Something terrible has happened! Somebody broke into your treasure room and stole most of the treasures!"

"I don't understand how the thieves could get past my ingenious locks…" Nabiki muttered.

'That's okay!' said the next note.

"That's okay, he says!" Ukyo frowned. "Guys, I think he's gone crazier than yesterday!"

"Don't you want to come out and talk to us?" Kasumi asked.

'No.' the fifth note said.

"Well, do you have some other wish?" Kasumi asked.

The sixth note appeared. 'Yes,' Kasumi read. 'Leave me alone!'

"Tell him we wish him a happy birthday," Ami said.

"Happy Birthday, Ranma-kun!" Kasumi said.

'Thank you!' That was the last note.

"Come, everybody, I think we should leave him alone for now," Kasumi said. "Everything will work out just fine, we just have to give him some time…"

And they walked down into the kitchen where Ukyo had prepared a nice meal.

But before they did that, Kasumi went outside and told everyone that the king was not feeling too well and that he was thankful for all of the birthday greetings. The pilots of the Storm Machine were fine and everything was under control.

Yes, Kasumi was undoubtedly showing the skills of a good politician…


	13. Epilogue: Ranko's New Day

What was really going on with Ranma? Has he indeed gone insane, as Ukyo feared?

No, on the contrary! Ranma was feeling great! Over the past few days, he had been living close to the abyss of insanity, but now he was over it.

While the thunderstorm was raging outside, he made a decision: "I don't want to be king anymore!"

And after he had said that, it took a massive load off his mind. He laughed out loud and wondered why he hadn't done this earlier.

While he watched the thunderstorm, he thought about everything that had happened during the following past days.

"I'm going to leave all of this behind," he said. "Sure, there are many people here who really like me… but what have I been, except for a living statue? I did nothing but to be a piece of… furniture that everyone could adore. There was no action here, no thrill, no adventure, no…"

No wonder he had gone crazy!

Thousands of adventures were waiting for him out there and here he was, sitting in this old castle, bored to death!

"But not any more! End of the line! I wanna live! I wanna LIVE!"

Ranma took use of his personal bathroom one last time. He took an extensive shower and searched for his old Chinese clothes.

But before he put them on, he hesitated. Everyone in Nerima would recognize him the way he was now, royal clothes or not. He needed some sort of disguise, at least until he was out of the kingdom.

He decided to go to Juuban, where pretty much everyone knew him, but where nobody knew about his curse. After all, it wasn't the first time he had used his female form as a disguise.

So he splashed himself with some cold water and turned into a red-headed girl. She then undid her pigtail and let her hair fall down free. She searched around her extensive, royal wardrobe until she found some shorts and a top for girls. She also put on some sneakers.

When she was finished, she looked into the mirror and smiled. A cute, red-headed girl looked back at her, a girl that could have easily been a tourist from Juuban.

"For the following days, I'm just gonna be Ranko," she stated. "At least until I decide to come back. Hello there, Ranko!" she said to her reflection. "How are you today?"

"Wonderful!" her reflection seemed to reply. "Absolutely wonderful!"

----

In the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep, Ranko left the castle. She strolled down to Saotokyo, followed the river and walked across the bridge that was leading to the forest.

She stood still for a while, took a deep breath and smiled up at the stars. Yes, she really had missed that…

In the forest, she searched a nice patch of moss where she lay down and slept until dawn.

When the sun was rising in the morning, Ranko got up and kept on walking. The water of the river was sparkling in the morning light.

Near the riverbank, she found a marvelous, white mushroom that was growing there. She took a few bites of it, that was her breakfast. She then threw the rest of the mushroom into the river.

Shortly after that, she met a donkey who was standing on a clearing and grazed.

"Hello there, buddy!" she smiled. "Nice day we're having, don't you agree?"

"Hee-haaaw!" the donkey replied.

Ranko approached the donkey and stroked its back. "How does a fine animal like you get in the middle of the woods? Well, maybe you'd like to come along?"

The donkey nodded. Ranko climbed up on his back, and she rode away, under the gleaming light of the sun…

----

After Kodachi and Akane awoke the next morning, they realized that Ryoga hasn't come back.

"Looks like he bailed, the wimpy pig…" Kodachi muttered. "I bet that he's gonna tell on us."

"Don't be so unfair," Akane said. "I can guess that Ryoga has lost his nerves. He never really liked what we did, and he only joined us because he wanted to stay near me, I can see that now. Somehow, I must admit, it was kinda sweet… And the way you treated him… No wonder he left! Knowing him, he could have very well passed through several kingdoms by now. And you know what? I'm going to leave you too."

"You can't do that, Akane!" Kodachi shouted. "We have to find that cat and the treasure… you can't abandon me now!"

Akane shrugged. "I never have been very interested in treasure, you know? Somehow, I've been running from what had been in front of my eyes the whole time… someone who likes me the way I am. And if Ranma doesn't want me… the heck with it! I'm going to do the same thing he has once done: I'm leaving for a training trip through the kingdoms, and if I should meet Ryoga on my way, I'll stay with him. It has been an interesting time with you, Kodachi, but don't get too greedy, you hear me? Or else you'll land in prison!"

The Black Rose sighed. "As you wish, Tendo… I'm really disappointed that I have to look for the treasure by myself, but I wish you luck. I will stay here and search for my gold and that accursed feline!"

And Akane left. Kodachi really stayed in Saotokyo Forest for some time and searched for the treasure. She never found it. Finally she got sick of it and wandered southwards, where she wanted to form a new band of thieves.

----

Early in the morning, Kasumi walked up to Ranma's bedroom. As she wanted to knock, she saw that the door was open.

'Finally he's back to normal!' she thought to herself and sighed in relief. She opened the door. "Good morning, Ranma-kun!" she smiled.

The bed was empty. Kasumi only found a small note on the night stand.

"Dear Kasumi," she read. "Please don't be upset or sad that I left. I'm starting a new chapter of my life, I don't want to be king anymore. I am very happy that I made this decision. Thank you for everything you and the others have done. Please tell Mom and Pops that I'm gonna come back some day, but for now, I'm gonna be on a very long journey. Take care of yourselves!"

The whole letter was signed with 'Ranko'.

Well, Kasumi took the news surprisingly well. She arranged for a big meeting and told the residents of Nerima about the king's decision. During this meeting, she was appointed the first president of the new Republic of Nerima.

She was head of government for many years to come and was becoming even more popular than Ranma ever was.

----

Genma and Soun were forgiven for their hapless cannon shot. But as there wasn't much of a treasure to guard anymore, they were fired. They found new jobs at the library of Saotokyo. For the next few years, they read hundreds of books and were known as the two most scholarly men in Nerima.

----

Ami Mizuno travelled back home to Juuban, where her friends and family were living. She had to tell her adventures with Nabiki and the Storm Machine again and again, and how she had found the Flying Agaric and the crown. Yes, Ami was the most famous girl in all of Juuban at that time.

----

Nabiki stayed in the castle where she kept on working on dozens of new inventions, and every one of them was more ingenious than the previous. So she invented a vacuum cleaner with reverse gear, an electric frying pan, a petting machine for pets, a steam-driven food mixer, shoes with built-in brakes and a relaxation device which she called Purrophone, because of the purring noises it made. Nabiki was a true genius, and nothing in the world would change that. And over the years, she even started to lower her prices…

----

Mousse stayed in Saotokyo and tried to forget his arduous mission. During that time, he arranged a few magical shows in the theater of Saotokyo, where he pulled rabbits out of his robe and sawed apart a few ladies, nothing extraordinary. But when the time was coming for him to leave, the population of Saotokyo didn't want to let him go, as they liked his shows so much.

Still, in the end, his yearning for his one true love turned out to be stronger than his friendship to the citizens, so he started to search for his Shampoo…

----

And what happened to Shampoo? Our green-furred feline ran deep into the woods until she found a small den in which she decided to stay. But her poor kitty mind, which had already been fragile after being locked inside the treasure room for such a long time, started to crumble entirely… and the withdrawal of paper money only made it worse. In the end, she believed herself to be nothing more than a normal wildcat.

When a young man with wide robes one day stumbled across her little den, he didn't realize that she was his Shampoo, as he didn't recognize her because of her green fur. Still, as he still wasn't able to find her, he decided to take the little animal along with him, as it reminded him so much of his love…

For many years, Mousse didn't find out that the girl he was looking for was actually the pet that was living with him. Shampoo turned out to be a very quiet pet, but there was one habit Mousse would never be able to break her of: Every time when he pulled out his wallet, she pounced upon it and tried to take a bite from the green bank notes that were in there. It made him wonder where she picked up that weird habit…

----

And what happened to Ranma? (Sorry, I meant to say: Ranko) Where did she ride? What happened to her? And did she keep her promise and came back to Nerima one day?

Those questions will stay unanswered for now. But here's my advice: Try eating some 'good-night-okonomiyaki'… I'm sure it will help you to have some nice dreams. And if you're lucky, you'll meet Ranko in your dreams, and she will tell you more of her adventures.


End file.
